A PostGraduate Sitch
by Jimmy1201
Summary: Ron, Kim, and Rufus are on their own for a while. These are the adventures of Ron finding himself in college and Kim finding herself out in the world and beyond it. Chapter 24. Ron and Kim start a long relaxing honeymoon. Let's stick a fork in this arc and call it done! (read to the end)
1. PostGrad

_**Author's Notes**_

My thanks to CajunBear73 and Sentinel103 who have provided inspiration, plot hole detection and valuable editing and even more valuable kicking around ideas on parts of this story. Any remaining problems with this story are entirely my property. :)

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **Partner in Life**_

Kim was too anxious to wait any longer in her lonely apartment for Ron to return. Her condition, a case of blood contamination from Drakken's Super High Pollinator formula, was getting worse. The contamination, almost like an algae slime in her blood, interfered with oxygen transport. Strong light shining directly on her body was the only known treatment.

After turning on her vacuuming bot to clean the place, she got in her car and drove through a strangely deserted Middleton looking for him.

Kim drove back from the lake after finding no one was there. She drove by Ron's house even though she knew that his parents were out of town and Ron was out. Sure enough, no one was home.

A convertible with the top down drove by blasting out an old O'Boys tune, the glint of blond hair and mirrored sunglasses reflecting the setting sun caught her eye - Ron! She quickly turned her car around, but the car was gone. She was sure it was Ron. 'Maybe he is looking for me', she thought. She drove back to her apartment thinking she had to get to where she could be found. Running up to her apartment, she nearly passed out, it was getting so hard to breathe. "Kim!" said Eric, "Is it the plant mutation again? Let's get you in the toaster.". Eric quickly undressed her down to her panties. There were great dark green blotches spreading over her body. He picked her up in his arms in a bridal carry and was carrying her toward the bed with its bright lights when Ron walked in the door. "KP, Drakken said I needed to… KP? What's going on?"

"Ron, I can explain," Kim gasped, "just a minute."

"KP, I think I see what is going on. I won't be a bother to you any longer" Kim noticed that Ron was not looking at her, but at the floor by the door. Without looking back, he walked out of the apartment. Kim struggled to get free, but she didn't have any strength. Eric put her on the bed and under the lights saying, "Don't worry Kimmy, I won't make you crazy, and your throwing surprises my way won't make me scream."

The blotches quickly shrank as the bright lights shone on them. Kim raised her head and looked at the floor where Ron had been looking. Next to the door was her spare mission pack, next to that was a strange backpack. Her stupid vacuuming robot had pushed Ron's backpack into the corner.

Kim struggled to get to the door. Looking out she saw Ron sitting at a picnic table in the courtyard, tears in his eyes. Raising his hand, he called "Lotus Blade". A short sword flew into his hand. Somebody shouted, "Sir, put the weapon down!" She tried to cry out to him, call the Blade, anything, but she had no breath. "Tanto" he commanded, putting the knife handle on the table and resting his head on the blade with its tip under his chin. Ron issued one last command, "Katana!"

Kim woke up in a cold sweat with a scream.[1]

Yori was instantly at her side, sliding into the seat next to her, "Kim! It was only a dream! It was only a dream…" She put her arm around the distraught teen.

"Can you tell me what it was about?", Yori softly asked.

"I was looking for Ron. I couldn't find him and when he found me, he thought I had replaced him and he," Kim choked back a sob, "he killed himself with the Lotus Blade."

"Let me get you some water," Yori said, handing her a small towel.

"Please and thank you, Yori." Kim used the towel to blot sweat from her face and neck.

Kim's thoughts strayed back to a conversation she had with her mom after the family meeting.

* * *

After the family had decided where they were all staying for the summer, Kim still found herself obsessed with Ron's response to her asking him to marry her. Her question was meant to be light hearted, although it was honest. If Ron had said "yes" like she expected, then the discussion would have turned to when and she expected the date to be after they finished college.

Cornering her Mom in the kitchen, she had asked, "Mom, why doesn't Ron want to marry me?"

"Don't know honey… but do you know this Cassie person that your brother Jim is tutoring?"

"No idea who she is," Kim tried to get her Mom back on track, "But I know Ron loves me…"

"Is this a private conversation, or can any mom join?" Jean pulled up a chair and sat down with a cup of coffee.

"Sure Jean, we are trying to figure out how your son's brain works, feel free to chime in. You haven't heard of a nursing student named Cassie, have you? Apparently, Jim is now tutoring nursing students in physics."

"Well, Mrs. Anderson has a daughter named Casandra, I think she is studying to be a nurse…", Jean looked thoughtful.

"MOM! Mrs. Stoppable! Please!"

"Oh, all right Kimmy. Why do you want to marry Ron?" Ann asked.

"Because I love him and want to do the together forever thing," Kim thought that part was obvious. "And I guess I am worried about this Blue Heart Society sitch and upcoming separation splitting us up somehow," she added in a smaller voice.

"Jean, why did you and Gene get married?" Ann asked.

"Well, our families had been pushing for us to marry for a while, we did like each other, and we wanted to start a family."

"Kimmy, why do you think I married your dad? I had his love and undying devotion, I had him taking me to his bed, He had given me you, what else did I need?

"You decided that you loved him back?" Kim made the obvious guess.

"Kimmy, I do love your dad, but that wasn't the reason. My status as a surgeon buys me very little outside of Middleton General. If your dad is in a strange emergency room, saying 'I'm a surgeon. I want to see James now' carries no weight. But now, I can say, 'I'm James's wife, get the hell out of my way, I want to see my husband!' That's why I married him. The question to ask is what does Ron see marriage as and what does he want from it?"

"I actually know the answer to this," Gene wandered over, "We had a father and son discussion about it once. Marriage is a partnership between people who will go through life together sharing all that life brings, good and bad."

"But Ron is already my partner!" Kim almost wailed.

"Kimmy, I'd bet that if I asked him right now, he would say he was your mission sidekick and if I really pushed him, he'd say that he was your mission sidekick until someone better for you came along…" Ann declared then added, "You know in your heart what I am telling you is true considering how Ron thinks of himself.".

* * *

When her Mom said that, Kim thought it was silly for Ron to think that he was a replaceable sidekick. On the heels of her nightmare, she decided that it was absolutely unacceptable for Ron to think that way.

Lately, she had tried to tell him he wasn't a sidekick, that he was important to her and that she was never going to find a more capable mission partner. But she feared that her words were not going to be enough. So, it had to be shown with actions.

It was only a matter of time until Ron did something so spectacularly heroic that even Ron would have to realize that he was "Really all that", and that there was nobody better for her as a mission partner. But people who did that are often praised as heroes at their funeral. To be honest with herself, she hadn't really talked about wanting Ron as a life partner. She had foolishly thought that he should already know that.

She knew that Ron was disappointed that she left almost two weeks early, but she had to leave early because…

Because why? She called Ron her partner, but blowing him off to attend an unplanned training opportunity the day after she had gotten upset with him for not believing he was good enough to be her partner was pretty stupid. She turned to Yori who was now holding out a bottle of cold water to her.

"Thanks, Yori. You would make a good mom," Kim took a drink from the bottle.

"You are welcome and thank you, Kim-san"

"We are stopping in San Francisco to refuel, right?"

"Yes"

"I have to get off and go back to Middleton. I'll go to China directly and meet up with Hirotaka in two weeks. I'll come for Lotus Blade training at another time."

"Is something wrong?"

"Just need to show myself what I am made of."

"This training is important, Kim-san. You may need it in the future."

"Yori… I have to work on getting the future I want first."

1) Kim's nightmare was taken from a songfic I had started, but not completed. Can you guess the song? The irony is that the song is about love that endures.

 _ **Our Story So Far**_

(Imagine this summary of "Graduation in MAYhem" scrolling up your screen with dramatic music playing…)

On a backwater planet named Earth, Ron had a curse put on him at birth that makes people get his name wrong. (Handy if people are trying to find you to wipe out your genetic line, a pain in the butt for everything else, like college applications.)

Intervention by someone who was quite happy to help split him and Kim apart has gotten him accepted into Eastern State University. After the events of "Graduation Day", Kim decides that not doing the planning and work to go to college with him was a mistake and her new plan is to "spend a semester or two to find herself" while Ron gets a semester or two under his belt to "find himself, plus get some college credits" and then they will continue college together.

Rufus has found that he has children courtesy of DNAmy (AKA Lady Amelia Fiske-Hall) and is taking time away from Ron to be with them. Rufus being a sensible mole rat knows where he is and sees no reason to look anywhere else for himself.

Both Kim and Ron are products of the Blue Heart Society. This group is dedicated to the elimination of diseases with genetic roots by strictly voluntary selective breeding and more recently, gene editing. In Ron and Kim's case the goal was producing people with special qualities. Both are expecting to get a request to have children with a selected partner. Ron, in fact, got a contract offer at the close of the story.

Kim and Ron have developed a very physical side to their relationship. Pretty much everything except penetrative intercourse as the MMP's Avatar believes that doing that will, in their case, produce pregnancy with an almost 100% chance. Still, as both can attest, one can still give and receive lots of pleasure even with that constraint.

Kim and Ron disagree on who the Chosen One is. Ron was pretty crushed when he realized that Kim was supposed to get the Mystical Monkey Power when the jade statues broke and feels like he is a fake who will have everything taken away from him when the mistake is discovered.

It is accurate to say that Ron and Rufus are the hosts of the Mystical Monkey Power and Kim can call the Lotus Blade to her hand. It is less generally known that it will also come to Joss. Unlike other people, Kim and Joss need not be imbued with MMP to handle the Lotus Blade. Ron and Rufus can imbue others temporarily with MMP. Ron also hosts the MMP's avatar which he and Kim have communicated with.

During the attack of the Lowardian landers, Dr. Drakken defended Chicago and surrounding cities using his mutant high pollinator formula. After Ron and Kim defeated (gruesomely killed to be exact) Warhawk, Drakken and Shego carried Team Possible to safety along with a Lowardian crewman, "WP", who was there to video record the "hunt for the prisoners Kim and Ron". WP is the only survivor of the Lowardian attackers, has a thing for romance novels and likes to imagine himself as part of a Three Musketeers novel.

After the events of Graduation Day, Dr. Drakken used his rejuvenator to make himself roughly ten years younger. His motivation was to make himself more attractive to help him woo Shego, which he is surprisingly successful in doing. It also helps that Shego is not put off by a "lover with leaves".

Dr. Drakken has gone straight and is currently working with the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida. Or as he puts it, the "real scientists, not mad scientists".

To make a long summary of an even longer story short, Kim, Ron, and Rufus have all parted ways and plan to reunite in the not too distant future.

 _ **Children of God**_

(Turn up low frequency rumbling from surround sound speakers, please)

The Imperial Heavy Cruiser Peacemaker flashed out of hyperspace two light weeks from Celestial Object catalog number 1e884f1f-dc50-4694-8e72, an ordinary water world orbiting an ordinary star in the middle of nowhere. They were investigating a report that rebels had hired a pirate light cruiser and two factory ships in search of something called "The Great Blue" to help them overthrow the Empire. The two light weeks distance effectively allowed them to see two weeks into the past, to see if they should charge in with guns blazing or approach quietly.

Commander Pakshok didn't believe for a moment that any single planet could have something that could threaten the Empire. No matter what color it was supposed to be. While the telemetry techs setup the thousand meter array, he decided to get some sleep, his experience was that those technical people took their sweet time calibrating everything just so.

Later, rested and awake, he went to the Battle Command Center. Replacing Lt Commander Paksescu at the command console, he inquired, "What has telemetry got for us?"

"Sir," Paksescu replied, "We've moved in with micro jumps to within seven light days." He brought up a slightly fuzzy picture of a blue planet hanging in space. "We believe these two orbiting objects are the factory ships and this smaller one is the light cruiser. The light cruiser drops out of orbit several times with factory ships in a stable orbit until here." The picture changed. "We believe that something happened on the other side of the planet. The factory ships should be seen in this picture, but instead, we see the remnants of a debris cloud. The light cruiser never appears again. We believe that it is on the ground, destroyed or captured because that type of cruiser requires special facilities to land on a planet's surface."

Pakshok flipped through the various pictures, snapshots in time really. "Perhaps this planet has teeth. At the very least, we are over a week late to the party. Helm, ease us quietly into geosynchronous orbit around the planet. If this planet has teeth, we don't want to get bit. Standard Raider procedure is to deny a planet the use of its communications satellites. We have people to meet and perhaps a bit of a good deed on our part would be a good calling card."

 _ **Nu Omocron Pi Epsilon**_

Jessica Fields raised her hand. Ayalisse Dennis, chairperson of the membership committee of the Pi Epsilon chapter of the Nu Omicron Benevolent Society rolled her eyes at her, "Jessica speak up, don't wait for permission. NOPE isn't one of these societies that exist to serve fraternities and other lapdogs of the patriarchy."

Jessica almost dropped her ever present smile. She still hadn't figured out when Ayalisse was trying to be ironic and when she was being serious, "Uh right. You handed me this student information packet on someone that housing wants us to take in."

"Yes, housing's tight this year and they're pushing some of the freshmen directly into fraternities and sororities. I saw that Ronica Trappable came from Middleton High School and was hoping that you'd know her."

"Well," Jessica's smile grew, "Ronnie was on the cheer squad junior year as team mascot and spotter. Nobody on the team ever got hurt from a fall while they were within fifty feet of Ronnie. Even saved the team from a run in with some mutant guy. Sort of a goof, but you couldn't ask for someone better to be watching out for you. Their cooking skills are amazing. But there's one little problem."

"Alcohol? Drugs? Slacker academically? Fan of the _Twilight_ movies?"

"No, no, they really brought up their grades senior year, and actually I think they are a _Bricks of Fury_ fan."

"So, what's the problem?"

"There's a mistake on the paperwork. I recommend that we admit them after we correct the papers that were sent over. The name on the papers should be Ronald Stoppable."

"You want us to allow a guy into our house? Are you crazy?"

"We aren't admitting a guy, we are admitting Ron."

 _ **Jessica Fields**_

Jessica flopped back on her bed and called home.

"Hi dad, it's me."

"Fine, Taking Statistics as a summer course is going to be OK, I guess. The instructor has a heavy Indian accent, but I figure another day or two and I'll be able to understand her just fine."

"No, there aren't any 'Merican teachers I can transfer to. It's math, how much language do you really need? Oh, remember I was supposed to watch out for Ronald Stoppable? Well, his paperwork showed up at the house wanting us to let him stay here."

"No, we're not co-ed, they made a mistake and the paperwork showed him as a girl."

"No, we decided to accept him."

"Dad, he's not a boy, he's Ron. Remember the team mascot and spotter junior year? That's Ron. The cheerleaders had no problems with him hitting on them or anything."

"No, he's not gay as far as I know, he was going out with Kim Possible all senior year."

"Yeah, the girl that was snatched by the aliens. Rumor is that he was on the team that rescued her."

"No, I'm pretty sure that Ron and Kim are a couple even if that article in Humans suggested that she was in a secret relationship with that woman from Team Go."

"If you talk to anybody from the Blue Heart Society, let them know that I am going to watch out for Ron. Tell mom I love her and if you talk to Kaity before I do, tell her I said thanks for making me a legacy here, this seems like a pretty nice bunch."

Jessica laughed, "Right, bunch of girls plus a Ron who is not a boy. Love you, bye."

Jessica had only recently been told about the Blue Heart Society. Her family, on her mother's side, had a long history of sons who died from heart attacks in their early thirties. Due to the work of the Blue Heart Society, she was the last in her family line to carry the related gene. To make sure she was the last, she would need to have her children's genetics checked and possibly edited practically at conception. They had claimed that there was no charge or price for this service. Recently her father was contacted and told that Jessica might be able to help them out and if so, they would be grateful. If she couldn't, then there would be no penalty. The help they asked for was simply to help watch out for an incoming freshman named Ronald Stoppable.

Jessica agreed, she knew Ron, a nice guy, a bit of a goof, and had a hairless rat for a pet. Certainly not dating material, but probably OK for a friend. She'd watch out for him. It'd be a small price to pay to thank a group that was going to make sure that any sons or grandsons she had outlived her.

 _ **Best Part of Waking Up**_

Ron woke to a sunny day. Sunny but quiet… and lonely.

The ninjas were gone to England to help with legal details of making "Lady Amelia Hall-Fiske" a legal reality and setting up a new naked mole bat nest with Joss and Rufus on the Fiske estate. Yori was gone, back to Yamanouchi, taking Kim with her so Kim could squeeze in a couple of weeks of advanced Lotus Blade training before going to Nana's old Shaolin stomping grounds.

Ron suddenly realized that someone was in his private shower because he heard it shut off. A moment later a naked Kim with her hair in a bun to keep it dry padded over to his dresser and pulled out underwear from the bottom drawer where she kept her spare clothes.

"Morning Ron," she said with a straight face, although the effort of not grinning at the look on his face nearly killed her.

"Uh, Hi Kim, I thought you went to Japan?"

"I was on the plane when I realized that I didn't have my favorite pink sports bra, the one with black straps. Have you seen it?"

"It's in the tree house. Seriously, not that I am complaining, but I am surprised to see you."

"You were expecting some other naked woman to walk in on you this morning?" Kim scowled a little, but then broke into a grin while pulling on jogging shorts, "I was on the plane and realized I had things I needed to do before I left. I am cutting the class in Japan, spending two weeks with you, then going straight to China. Then coming back here to see you for a week before going to Georgia for Airborne class. Would that be keeping you from doing anything?"

"No! Not at all!" Ron said, "Uh, does Mom know you're up here?"

"Yeah, I told her I was coming up here for a shower. She told me that she was going to send up Hana in a bit to make sure we didn't get carried away saying 'Good Morning'."

Pulling on a tee shirt, she sat on the bed leaning over to give Ron a kiss, "Ron you really are important to me. Let's have two weeks of you and me in the context of us and family. No missions, no ninja training, no villains, no assassins, just us hanging at the lake, spending time with parents, Skeeball with Hana while eating awful pizza… stuff like that."

The next day, they made a video of them playing Skeeball at J.P. Bearymore's Pizza Party-Torium with Hana. Kim and Hana were close in score and Ron did a short victory dance with each of them whenever they rolled a 50. Hana cheered with delight when Ron danced with Kim and shrieked with glee when Ron danced with her. Kim had to wash her hair that night to get the burnt pizza smell out but went to sleep convinced that Ron would be a perfect partner for her.

Late in the week, Ron got a call from Antonio and Nick saying the insurance paperwork had gone through and his replacement bike was ready for pickup. Wade called in a favor for Kim and Ron and the next day they parachuted into their Harley Davidson dealership's parking lot to pick up the bike.

While they could have made the trip back to Middleton in a very long day's ride, they spent three days taking the scenic route back to Slim's Ranch. There they met Bethany, took long walks in the pastures until Ron started to privately think of Kim's 'Meditation Meadow' as 'Makeout Meadow' and generally just hung out with people while James and Slim "upgraded" Ron's bike. Finally, their vacation was up and Ron dropped Kim off at the airport to catch a commercial flight to China. As before, Ron felt a part of his heart leave with Kim, but somehow it didn't hurt as much this time.

Team Possible was scattered across the planet. Kim should be in China in a day or two, Rufus was in England and Ron figured that he should pack up and head out to Eastern State early and try his chances at the walk on tryouts for the football team. After all, housing sent him a letter saying he was assigned to stay in some fraternity or something...


	2. Off to School

_**Author's Notes**_

My thanks to CajunBear73 and Sentinel103 who have provided inspiration, plot hole detection and valuable editing on parts of this story. My thanks to Daccu65 for reviews and encouragement. Any remaining problems with this story are entirely my property. :)

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **Getting to NOPE**_

The GPS/Navigation system on his bike helpfully showed the closest motorcycle lot next to his new housing. His letter said that he was assigned to the Pi Epsilon chapter of the Nu Omicron Benevolent Society's House. He figured it was some sort of fraternity. With a little trepidation, no doubt caused by seeing "Animal House" too many times, he parked, put on his mission pack, grabbed two duffels and started down the sidewalk.

Easily finding the large house on Greek row, it was the huge white mansion with the "NOPE" sign out front. He walked up the tree-lined sidewalk and up the porch steps.

"Hi, Ron! Welcome to NOPE! Let me get the door for you."

Ron turned to find a friendly, compact brunette coming up the steps behind him.

"I'm Mercedes Bethune. Jessica is here somewhere, she's going to show you around. This is my second year here, so if there is anything I can tell you about, just ask. Lyndsey! have you seen Jess?"

"I think she is getting papers signed by the inspector guy here for Ron's room. Oh! You must be Ron. Hi, I'm Lyndsey Winchell." Lyndsey Winchell was a dark-skinned girl with short hair, wire rimmed glasses over eyes that looked quick to laugh. Looking him over, she asked, "Where's Rufus?"

"In England, visiting family for a while," answered Ron.

"Aw, that's too bad, I was looking forward to meeting the little guy," said Lyndsey.

Ron followed Mercedes into a huge kitchen. It was enormous with commercial mixers, four full-sized ovens, a real fryolator, three huge refrigerators; anything he could want. Toward the back near a basement door, he saw an older blonde woman with cool gray eyes, Jessica Fields, and a middle-aged man with a fireman's badge. The man handed papers to Jessica, turned to leave, and saw Ron.

"Mr. Shippable, quite a nice setup you have here, hope you enjoy it," he said with a subtle wink, and then walked out the back door.

"Ron," said Jessica, "this is Ms. Karli Eisenfaust, she's the House "Mother". Ms. Eisenfaust, this is Ronald Stoppable."

Ron dropped his duffel bags and extended a hand, "Pleased to meet you Ms. Eisenfaust."

Ms. Eisenfaust gave him a cold look. Placing a stack of papers in his outstretched hand, she gritted out, "Herr Stoppable, here are the house rules. See that you and your rat thing obey them," and stalked off.

Jessica looked Ron over, "Where's Rufus? Everybody's been looking forward to meeting him."

"Rufus is in England visiting family for a while," answered Ron thinking maybe he should put that answer on a tee shirt.

Jessica replied, "Too bad, you two were a great team." Looking at Mercedes, she asked "Cedes, do you have a minute? I want to show Ron his room."

"Sure Jess" Then to Ron's puzzled look she added with a grin, "Page 3, at the bottom." In a deep voice, she continued, "No female members or guests are allowed without a chaperone in Ron's lair when Ron is present."

"Just guys then," said Ron.

Mercedes broke out in a laugh, "Jess, he doesn't know what NOPE is?"

Jessica started down the stairs, "Cedes, he and Kim have been too busy fighting aliens and assassins to worry about all the little details," she said sternly.

"What little details?" asked Ron.

"NOPE is a sorority. As of today, you are the first and _only_ male member of the society," explained Jessica.

"Only _male member_ in this house…" snickered Mercedes.

"Oh, grow up," chided Jessica, "Anyway Ron, you know how people always mess up your records? Housing sent over the records for a girl named Ronica Trappable from Middleton High School. I figured out that it was really you, explained to the membership the mistake and talked them into accepting you."

"Why?" Ron was baffled, "I mean won't having a guy around interfere with the sisterhood and all?"

"Well, it will make scheduling naked pillow fights more difficult…" pointed out Mercedes.

"Cedes, stop teasing!" growled Jessica, "No, you're fine because you're not a guy, you're Ron."

Ron sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Wait! Hear me out please," Jessica pleaded, "OK, so you're not my dream guy, but that's OK, you're K's dream guy. Ron, when you were on the cheer squad, many of us thought your Mad Dog mascot was too over the top and a bit silly. But when you left us to play football in senior year we started getting injuries. Tara sprained an ankle, Hope jammed her wrist, Marcella nearly dislocated a shoulder. At Graduation, Tara, Liz, and I figured it out. It was because you weren't there to spot for us. You saved us from that mutant guy at Wannaweep. You went into space to save Kim! You look out for the people around you, so I figure having you around is good. And maybe we could get you to cook for us every _once in a while_ …" Jessica grinned at the last statement.

"So, I guess that everyone knows that I'm _not_ a guy, that I'm a _Ron_? At least the people that I saw on the way in knew my name." Ron still didn't think that it was exactly a compliment.

"You are the only guy in NOPE, so it's kind of obvious who you are," Mercedes pointed out, "And that Army guy came to talk to us about you."

"Army guy?" asked Ron

"Yeah, was it Major Mayhem?" Mercedes tried to remember.

"Sergeant Major Chaos," reminded Jessica.

"Yeah, Chaos. He told us that you might have nightmares and said not to touch you with our hands to wake you up, but poke you with these," Mercedes pointed to a set of pool noodles, soft foam rods about four inches thick and six feet long.

"Now, back to the tour," Jessica stepped into the middle of a freshly painted room, "this is the same level as the basement, but not connected to the basement. The fraternity that used to have this house called it the Chamber of Forbidden Secrets, NOPE just called it storage. Basically, it's a nice large bedroom, one of those doors is a toilet and sink, the other is a shower. No closet, but they will deliver a wardrobe and chest of drawers tomorrow. The desk is in that box, you can find tools in a cabinet in the kitchen by the back door. That ladder on the wall goes to a door that will come out behind some shrubberies on the back of the house. The fire marshal made us put it in so you have a second exit in case of fire. Feel free to arrange stuff to suit yourself. I didn't know if you would be showing up with a pillow, sheets, and a blanket, so we scrounged up a spare set until you get a chance to go out and get some.

"Ron," Mercedes got suddenly serious, "NOPE is famous for the high GPA of its members and the high percentage of members that are called bitches. NOPE is not only who we are but our standard answer to idiot guys. You are expected to help us maintain that high GPA. Evening group study sessions are not optional. As for the other, maybe it's a good thing you are not some idiot guy, but a Ron, _right_?"

Mercedes then stretched up to put her arm around Ron's neck and drew him close, "Now until classes start, we won't have morning and evening cooks coming in and we are getting pretty sick of ordering out for pizza. We got four hours until dinner and fully stocked freezers upstairs. What say we go up and you show us what your mad dog cooking skills can come up with? I can get you a half dozen pretty good kitchen assistants."

"How many people are we feeding?" asked Ron

"Fifty," replied Mercedes.

"The house has fifty people?"

"No, once classes start and everyone is here, the house will have 28 members and there will be another 75 or so members living in the dorms. Jessica really busted her hump getting you this room in the house, so you owe her big time. Tonight, we'll have about fifty people here for dinner." Mercedes said.

"Get me a front row seat for naked pillow fights?" Ron asked.

"You can be the referee," Mercedes offered.

"Booyah! Let's get cooking!" Ron started for the stairs. "What does the referee do?"

"Check for non-regulation pillows, make sure the proper uniforms are worn, stuff like that," Mercedes answered with a grin, following Ron up the stairs to the kitchen.

"Guys!", Jessica chased after Ron and Mercedes running up the stairs to the kitchen, "We don't really have organized naked pillow fights here… Do we?"[1]

* * *

 ** _…Silence fell and the blue haze faded. The body that Ron's hand pierced fell forward, red hair spilling over his arm._**

 ** _Ron was cast into the void, everything turned to black, the only thing he could see was the memory of red hair and red blood, the only thing he could feel was the agony of being alone forever and the only sound he could hear was the sound of his own screaming…_**

"Ron! Ron! Wake up! It's just a dream! Ron! You're OK!"

Ron sat up gasping for air like he had been drowning. Looking around he saw he was in his bed in his "lair" under the kitchen. He saw Rhona and Pavlina both looking pale and holding the pool noodles they used to wake him. Needing air badly, he got up on shaky legs, saying "Sorry! I'm sorry," and stumbled up the stairs, through the kitchen and out to the back porch where he sat down on the steps.

He didn't notice the small group of worried housemates gathered in the kitchen not knowing what to do. Stripping off his sweat soaked tee shirt, he sat in the cool pre-dawn breeze in just a pair of gym shorts and waited for his racing heart to calm. He had gone over ten days without a nightmare and had hoped that his nightmares were over.

Back in his room, the two girls looked around.

"Did you see? The furniture. It started to move. By itself!" Pavlina crossed herself, "What could he have done to deserve this?"

"No kidding," answered Rhona, "We'd better go check on him." Going through the kitchen, Pavlina told the others to go back to bed, that she and Rhona would see to Ron.

"Drink, braciszek," Pavlina appeared at Ron's side holding a bottle of water. Rhona draped a large towel over his back to keep him from getting chilled.

"I don't deserve you guys, thanks," Ron said.

"No, you don't. You make Jessica sad. You will apologize today!" Pavlina commanded.

Pavlina was a grad student, at least three years older than most of the residents. When she wanted to, she could speak in perfect, unaccented English. Her casual speech, however, reminded him of Rufus if Rufus was a little babushka.

That Jessica was trying so hard to help him fit in made him feel good until he found out that she was doing it at the behest of the Blue Heart Society. That made him feel like a tool and he had yelled at her. Now she was cringing every time she passed him and that made him feel like pond scum.

Looking at his watch, he saw that he had enough time to make a really nice breakfast for the house, then make a meeting with the football coaches. Then if he came back and grabbed a quick nap, he could make some cakes as an apology before his meeting with Professor Ohlson to go over his schedule.

"I will make Jessica public chocolate apology cakes," he told them.

"Better be good cake," grumped Pavlina.

Ron got back to the house about noon and threw himself on his bed with a groan of disgust. His reason for showing up early on campus was to try out as a walk-on for the football team. Even though they claimed he was too small, they allowed him to try out and were "modestly impressed" by his speed and quickness. He knew making the team was not guaranteed, but he wanted to at least try.

They talked him into trying their "nutritional" supplements, the shot they gave him made him break out in hives and the "protein" drink had him throwing up his last weeks' worth of Nacos.

Now, a couple of days later, they met with him and told him that he couldn't be a competing athlete of any kind because his blood tests came back showing that his DNA looked "suspicious".

The NCAA was going to require DNA checks on competitors in the coming year due to a scandal caused by Empire State University in New York City having athletes that were competing unfairly using "mutant" abilities.

Trying to salvage something useful from the experience, he used his ninja skills on the way out of this morning's meeting to get samples of the serum and the protein powder that they gave him and planned to send them to Wade. He thought that perhaps something in them could help him beef up to be closer to the partner Kim deserved.

'Time to man up and make some chocolate apology,' Ron thought as he rolled off the bed and headed to the stairs leading up to the kitchen.

In the summer, the kitchen was normally the domain of Ms. Karli Eisenfaust. Since he had arrived, Ron had seriously turned on the charm, plus offered to assist her in cooking at least until the start of school. As a result, "that male invader of feminine serenity and fellowship" became "her sweet Ronchen", who could do little wrong. Most certainly could do no wrong in the kitchen.

He started dumping the dry ingredients into a mixer that could easily mix the batter for eight cakes.

"Oh, uh, hi Ron," Jessica skittered over to an industrial fridge, "I'm just grabbing a yogurt… I'll be out of your way in a second."

Ron blinked. The kitchen was huge, a dozen Jessica's could be rollerblading and not be in his way. "You're not in my way. In fact, could you grab six pounds of butter for me, please?"

Jessica brought him the butter, "What are you making?"

"An apology for yelling at you. I'm sorry, you have helped me a lot with getting settled in. You didn't deserve anything except my thanks."

Jessica watched as Ron dumped the butter in the dry ingredients and started the mixer.

"I think that is going to be too big an apology."

"Well, I did yell a lot and I figured that you might want to share."

Jessica giggled which made Ron feel a little less like a jerk. By the time the cakes were done and frosted, Ron had nearly a dozen "assistants", with everyone sampling, chatting and including him in their conversation. At dinner that evening, he presented the cakes to the gathered members and publicly apologized to Jessica, bringing a small smile to Pavlina's face.

1) The first rule: You do not talk about NAKED PILLOW FIGHTING. The second rule: You DO NOT talk about NAKED PILLOW FIGHTING. The third rule: Make sure all the stuffing is up one end…

 _ **Welcome to Serenity**_

Kim had lost contact with Wade a couple of hours ago. Wade warned her it would happen as communication coverage by low orbiting satellites that her dad and others were putting up didn't have global coverage.

Kim had also firmly declined Ron's desire to charge her up with MMP. Mostly because she worried that he was still recovering from the events around the explosion but partly because she wanted some "just me" time. She told herself that the world could manage just fine with Ron to watch it until she got back. If she got in a bind, well, she would find out if she really was "all that" or not. Seriously, with Hirotaka and a monastery full of friendly Shaolin monks around, what could go wrong?

The door to the cockpit opened, a crewman entered the cargo area and opened the side door. He smiled and held up two fingers. Kim struggled a bit but got in the doorway. Reaching into her extra cargo bag, she pulled out a package, handed it to the crewman and bowed politely. The man grinned broadly, returned the bow then pointed out the door and slapped her on the shoulder.

Kim rolled out the door. The parachute was the standard military RA-1 steerable chute she expected to be using in upcoming training. She was a little concerned that she wasn't heavy enough for it to work properly. Thus, the extra cargo bag stuffed with twenty-five (now twenty-four) pounds of very good dark chocolate. She pulled early and was rewarded by the solid jerk of a perfect chute opening. Lowering her cargo and backpack on a shock cord to reduce the weight her knees would have to take on landing, she started trying out the maneuverability of her setup.

Hirotaka and Master Po stood outside the monastery gates watching a happy Kim Possible cut curves and circles in the evening sky. Master Po looked as serene and happy as always, although his mirrored aviator shades detracted a bit from the traditional Shaolin Master look. Last week he and Hirotaka had debated long into the night about whether vision was a distraction from truth or an additional way to observe beauty and goodness in the world. The next day, Master Po, accompanied by Hirotaka went into a neighboring city for cataract surgery.

"Aren't Kim's curves lovely to watch, Master Po?" Hirotaka gave Master Po a sideways look.

Master Po laughed, saying, "Yes, you imp, and her aerial maneuvers also have a grace and beauty of their own."

They walked out to where Kim had unbuckled her harness and was carefully gathering up her chute to make it easier to repack later.

Before she had left Middleton to go with Ron to pick up his bike, her mom had pulled her aside.

"Kimmy, let's chat about nonconcordance with respect to desire. Imagine your body and your mind are walking down the street and they decide to get you some lunch. Your body points out places that are relevant to eating, but your mind decides if you would enjoy eating there. For example, your mind might be in the mood for Italian, but your body points out the taco place, the hot dog stand, pretty much anything and everything related to food."

"The same principle applies for sexy hotties, your body will point out 'Whoa, smoking hot guy at nine o'clock and ooh, he's got handcuffs in his pocket' but your mind has to decide 'no, not for me', or 'maybe we should check this guy out'."

"Mom!" Kim protested, "I know I've had a weakness for hotties in the past, but I've gotten better! Wait, what? _Handcuffs_?"

"All I'm saying is that you can trust your body to point out and even react to things that may be relevant to desire but your mind decides if you would enjoy it or you even want to do it. The idea that your body knows and indicates your true feelings is absolute and total crap. Your body's response is _expecting_ , true _arousal_ happens between your ears and includes _enjoying_." [1]

She was reminded of that conversation when she stood up and saw Hirotaka standing next to her. Her body pointed out that, "Yep, still hot and those eyes…" Her mind pointed out: "Not Ron, not sure I could even teach him to be as good as Ron and besides, isn't he already dating Ayame, Midori, and what was her name? Flavia?"

Still, Kim stepped forward and wrapped him in a hug. "Wanda and Suzie told me that a hug was the standard Team Cobra greeting," she lied to the surprised Ninja.

"Soudesu Ka?" (Is that so?) Hirotaka was rattled enough to forget to reply in English.

"Hai," said Kim wondering if this would backfire at a later date when it got back to Wanda and Suzie. Her body admitted 'OK, Hiro still has a hot hard body, but he's not Ron…'

"Kim Possible, allow me to present Master Po," said a quickly recovering Hirotaka. "Master Po, this is Kimberly Possible, granddaughter of Amanda Possible."

"Master Po," Kim bowed very respectfully, "It is an honor to meet you, sir," then stepped forward to embrace the old master in a hug, "My Nana told me to be sure to give you this."

Master Po returned the hug, laughing, "And did she tell you that she used to try to bribe me with chocolate to teach her advanced techniques?"

Releasing Kim, he held her at arm's length to see her better, "Or is there another reason that you have a large bag of what smells like very good dark chocolate?"

Laughing they helped Kim collect her things and went inside the monastery to show her a room and where she could freshen up before dinner.

1) For a much better explanation, see: Nagoski, Emily. _Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life._ Very interesting book, more about how the mind works with arousal and intimacy than how body parts work, but there is some nice discussion on those too. The author has a quick two minute summary at YouTube watch?v=-UHOjBC8Glg

 _ **Freshman Curriculum**_

Ron walked up to Professor Nova Olson's office and knocked on the doorframe of the open door.

"Come in Mr. Stoppable," said the blond úlfheðnar. She was dressed in a suit jacket and slacks combo with no visible tattoos or scars. She did wear her necklace with its many charms. "Have a seat," she said and pointed to a table, then moved from her desk to sit beside him. "Have you heard from Rufus? It is strange to see you without your little friend on your shoulder."

"Rufus is fine. Every few days we do the mystical communication thing. He and his children are looking at making a new nest in some chalk cliffs by the manor," Ron replied.

"Good. I hope it isn't too long before you are reunited with him. We will do this on paper as some of your classes aren't in the system. Can I see the schedule that they sent you?" Nova had a notebook open to a blank page in front of her along with her day planner.

Ron pulled out his schedule and laid it on the table.

Nova started going over it with a pen.

" _SEM 101 Introduction to College Life_ , that's actually a good seminar."

" _PSYSC 100, General Psychology_ , we are going to replace that with _NINJA 101 Introduction to Bo-ryaku and Cho Ho_ , that's sort of an applied psychology for ninjas."

" _HIST 150, The West in the World_ , we are going to change that to _MYST 100 Introduction to Oriental Mythology/Mysticism._ "

" _ENG 103, English Composition 1_ , gotta keep that"

" _CHEM 101, Chemistry for the Health Sciences_ , Professor Hellström will make sure you test out of that, I want you in _SEM 901 MMP Study and Practice Seminar_ "

 _ANAT 201, Fundamentals of Human Anatomy_ , you'll need that for your physical therapy studies.

Pulling out a schedule sheet, she blocked out his schedule saying, "OK, here's your new schedule as of now," sliding the sheet over to him.

"Since those idiots we call football coaches rejected you, you will be running with me from 7 am to 9 am on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Tuesday and Thursday, I want you to sleep in and be rested for MMP study and practice at 10 am."

Nova looked up at Ron, "So look good for a start?"

Ron stared at the new schedule and the old schedule, "I'm not sure I can test out of college chemistry."

"You took Advanced Placement in high school for both chemistry classes and managed to pass them both. Looking over your grades, I see you barely passed Organic, but you passed. Classes start in two weeks, study with Evin and give it a shot. You might surprise yourself."

"OK, Ron grinned, "I'll give it the old college try."

"Good man. Oh, I want you to meet at 2 pm on Wednesdays for a counseling session with Collen Bassi. It's not a formal session, I just think that you need someone like Collen to give you a male point of view, you seem to be surrounded by women lately. Not that having women as mentors is bad, I just think some balance from a guy who has been there would be good. You seemed to like him when I saw you talking to him at the ranch."

Nova saw Ron's blank expression, "Oh, that's right, he prefers to be called 'Chaos'."

 _ **Guests Arrive**_

The Peacemaker "quietly" settled into geostationary orbit in view of the Americas without generating energy flares or plumes. Middleton Space Center was a clearinghouse for groups tracking space debris. For low orbits, its databases monitored the orbits of objects a couple of inches in size and larger. For the much more distant geostationary orbit, objects a yard in diameter and larger were detected and tracked.

The Peacemaker was quickly detected, measured and cataloged. It was, after all, the length of six of the fields used for playing American Style Football, not that the game was actually played in the Empire of Lowardia. Lowardian Football was closer to rugby, with games ending in heavy drinking and singing of ancestral songs. It was not a game for the weak livered…or tone deaf.

Middleton Space Center computers looked up this new object's size and orbital parameters. Not finding an existing entry, it sent out an email titled "Please fill out proper forms" to the satellite_geeks mailing list politely requesting the proper forms be filled out for this new object. The next update of the software would add a test that if the new object's size was larger than a football field, it would send out an email entitled "Holy crap, we are being invaded!" to the satellite_geeks mailing list.

"Weapons free, computer assisted targeting allowed. Double beer rations for the gunnery team with the highest score." was announced over the ship-wide comms.

The target of all ship mounted weapons, and a few overly enthusiastic Marines in heavy assault power suits standing outside on the hull was roughly 150,000 steel cubes approaching the heavy cruiser at roughly six kilometers per second (13,400 miles/hour or 36,077,000 Furlongs/Fortnight).

They would spend four full orbits to sweep the orbit clean of the steel cubes put there by the Spear of Fire to deny its use by geosynchronous satellites.

This was turning into a first contact mission instead of a pirate hunt. Commander Pakshok was confident that this high orbit would give them ample time to react to any threat from the planet. Actually, he liked first contact missions. A "finder bonus" for a new beer recipe, grain seeds, and yeast samples from a good brewery wouldn't make him or his crew rich, but it was a bit of pocket money and nearly the entire ship would volunteer for the "search and taste" landing teams.

The faint whine of ship weaponry indicated that cleanup of the orbital obstructions put in place by those "rebel scum" was well underway.

"Rebel scum', he chuckled to himself. By the suns, he loved the entertainment produced by Dirt…Earth, or whatever the locals called this planet. Although if he had written the movie, his Empire would have crushed the rebel alliance and wouldn't have needed something as wasteful as a "Death Star". Pakshok truly believed that it was the highest privilege and duty of the Emperor and his agents like the crew of the Peacemaker to provide safety and security of the peoples of the empire.

Robot probes were searching for the crash site of the Spear of Fire so they could recover the data and log recorders. All in all, the mission was going well. Time for a break, he decided. He would invite all his staff officers for a viewing of another of these Dirt videos about the fictional Evil Space Empire.

The planets of the Lowardian Empire provided strength, resources, and talents of many races to serve the Empire. Perhaps Dirt would be a good candidate.

The First Medical Officer was raving about a story done completely in text. She called it a "para-normal romance" and promised to send him a copy. Something about groups of humans that were cursed by magic that made them occasionally turn into wolf/humanoid hybrid monsters.

He hoped it was better than the last one she had praised. That story, from a place called Medus Dery, had way too many tentacles for his taste.

On his main screen was a list of objectives. The very top was "Find, capture/destroy Spear of Fire". Near the top was a picture of a human with a blue tint to his skin and a scar on his face. The accompanying tag was "Putative Great Blue."

 _ **Chaos Counsel**_

"You don't have to be such a bitch about it!"

Ron wandered over to the fountain where a couple of guys were standing in front of a young woman sitting on the edge of the fountain. He tried to remember her name, he remembered that she liked her eggs sunny side up, she wasn't a NOPE member, but tagged along with Brita Martindell from the dorm for breakfast at the house on Tuesdays and Thursdays… Rhi… Rhianna Pimm, that was it. "Hi Rhi, how's it going this bondiggity afternoon." Ron ignored the guys totally.

"Hi, Ronald. Just explaining to these guys that their names aren't on my tattoo." Rhianna chirped happily, relieved to see a friendly face.

"Really? Just whose name is on your tattoo?", said Ron, who was ever the helpful audience member for an amateur magician.

Rhianna held out her arm and pushed up her sleeve showing a tattoo of a heart inked high on her forearm with a banner that read "Ronald".

"Ya know Rhi, KP is liable to see that, rip that arm off and then beat me to death with it, thinking I cheated on her…"

Rolling her eyes in amusement, Rhianna pulled her sleeve down, waved her arm around theatrically, then once again pushed up her sleeve showing a tattoo with the name "Lucas" on it.

"Wow," Ron gushed, "That was great. Now that you've saved my life, can I walk you to the library?" Ron offered his elbow in a gentlemanly, if somewhat over-the-top, fashion.

"Gentlemen," Ron nodded to the annoyed looking guys as Rhi put her hand in the crook of his elbow and he led her away.

"Thanks, Ron," she said once they were out of earshot of her detractors. "I know guys don't like being made fun of, but these guys were a little much. They thought they'd be clever when my tattoo came back the first time with 'Stephen' on it, they had a buddy walk up and tell me his name was 'Stephen'. When the tattoo then said 'Reginald', they got mad, said that they were just joking around to try to be friendly, and then called me a bitch."

"Glad to be of assistance. Actually, I like the concept of having KP's name on a tattoo. Do you know any good tattoo artists? One that could do a heart like yours but with a name that doesn't change?"

"Sure, I've used 'Axe' from Main Street Ink. He's a great artist. Say, how about having a tattoo with the heart with your buddy Rufus sitting under it. He could be touching the heart with affection or something. I think that would suit you better than the standard roses around the heart. Talk with Axe, he's good at turning concepts into art," Rhi replied.

"Thanks, I'll look him up, well, I've got to run, see you at breakfast tomorrow?"

"You bet! See ya!"

Ron found the office of Sergeant Major Collen "Chaos" Bassi (Retired) on the second floor of the main library. It was small, but comfortable and had a view of the fountain in front of the library. The door was open so Ron paused and knocked on the doorframe.

"Ron! Good to see you man. Come in and shut the door behind you."

Ron felt Chaos examine him closely and stopped in front of the desk feeling like he should be standing at attention or something.

"Ron, have a seat, this isn't the military and this certainly isn't an inspection," Chaos laughed and waved him to a seat.

"You look pretty good, what are you doing for PT this semester?"

"Nova has me running with her for 10k then agility training on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, then a bit of weight training on Tuesdays and Thursdays," Ron replied.

"Maybe I'll try to join you for some of your morning runs. Might be interesting to train with a berserker," Chaos grinned.

"She's an úlfheðnar sir, not a berserker."

"I stand corrected. Call me Chaos, not sir, please. I worked long and hard getting Chaos as a callsign. Now how is counseling going with you and Kim?"

"Well," Ron rubbed the back of his neck, "Things got a little crazy and we didn't get a chance to talk to Global Justice…"

"I guess getting blown up will do that," Chaos smiled grimly, "When is the last time you woke screaming from a nightmare?"

"Monday."

"Damage to the room?"

"Mostly just messed up a bit."

"Ron…" Chaos started to growl.

"Sir, I mean Chaos…how do I tell a counselor that I am having nightmares because I watched an alien gut his battle mate in front of me? That I ripped out that alien's heart after he threatened to kill Kim and burn the world? That is, I literally ripped his heart out with my bare hand. While all the time I was having trouble thinking because of the constant screaming of monkeys who weren't there. They would lock me up as crazy or lock me up because I am obviously a danger to others."

"Well, you aren't crazy and you are only a danger to those people who threaten others." Chaos looked into Ron's eyes. He saw a young man who could use a little sleep, but what college freshman couldn't? He didn't see despair or hopelessness so maybe keeping an eye on the young man would be sufficient. He made a note to call the Doc about Kimberly.

"OK, how about let's get together Thursday night for dinner and talk about things we have seen and done, things we intend to see and do."

"I have class until 8 pm that night."

"Make it a late dinner then. Sometimes a little alcohol helps."

"I don't drink sir, uh, Chaos."

"You don't have to drink alcohol. Mind if I do?"

"Not at all. What about this time period? Do we still meet?"

"Of course, in this sober, bright time of day, we will talk about the proper deportment of a young college male. For example, do you shave every day?"

"Pretty much. My beard is still pretty light, though."

Chaos handed Ron a box. "Use this trimmer instead of shaving. Set it to 3/8 of an inch, maybe four. That is short enough to be neat and long enough to not be too scratchy. I believe that your beard will come in darker than your hair. Let's try it for three weeks and see if you like the look. Keep shaving your neck, a neck beard makes you look like a Dungeons and Dragons geek."

"I noticed your extraction of the young lady by the fountain." Chaos continued.

"Yeah, pretty sad really. Some guys get this script worked out in their head to pick up girls with. Then, when something makes them go off-script they get all angry and pissy. Rhianna's a nice person, if they had just laughed and complemented her on her magic trick instead of calling her a bitch when she made their script run off the tracks, she'd have been nice to them. Probably not have given them her phone number or anything, but she would have been polite."

"So why did you help her?"

"Really? You have to ask? A guy's gotta take care of his own, you know."

"She's a member of NOPE?"

"No, but she's part of the human race. Sometimes we humans have got to stick together, you know? Speaking of sticking together, I understand that you talked to some of the members of my house?"

"Yeah I did. Seems like you got some good troop there Ron. I figured that you wouldn't want to hurt somebody by mistake, so I told them to be real careful waking you up from a nightmare."

"You mean 'poke him with a six foot long pole' for safety?" Ron pointed out.

"Did it work? That is, did they wake you up without anyone getting hurt?"

"Well, yes," admitted Ron

"Ron, you said it yourself, man, sometimes we humans have to stick together. Fair is fair, I know you are going to help them if they need it, so let them help you sometimes. OK?"

They finished off the hour talking about Ron and NOPE and particularly his twenty-eight housemates and how it was important to be a gentleman to each and every one and not to lead anyone on. "The only thing more terrible than a woman scorned is having that scorned woman living under the same roof." warned Chaos, "And may God have mercy on your soul if you get twenty-eight women under your roof either feeling scorned or mad that one of their friends feels scorned."


	3. New Challenges

_**Author's Notes**_

My thanks to CajunBear73 and Sentinel103 who have provided inspiration, plot hole detection and valuable editing on parts of this story. My thanks to Daccu65 for reviews, inspiration, and an idea that I hope I put to good use. Any remaining problems with this story are entirely my property. :)

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

Last edited 12 August 2017

Reminder from _Graduation in Early MAYhem:_

A side effect of being charged with MMP is increased fertility. It's a problem that has interfered with some of the more physical aspects of Kim and Ron's relationship. Joss's uncle Slim and his lady friend Bethany got 'bit' by this in that story.

 _ **Sheep is stupid**_

"Sheep is stupid," thought Rufus. He didn't think "Sheep _**are**_ stupid," because he didn't know that many sheep and didn't want to brush the entire species with that label. But, as he tried to untangle his paws from the lush, soft wool of the sheep he had decided to take a nap on, he declared that this particular sheep is stupid because it was wandering to the edge of the cliff with no sign of turning or stopping.

Joss, Suzie, and a dozen naked mole bats were spending the day working with some archaeologists to see what the small, burrowing, intelligent animals could find out on an old Anglo-Saxon barrow. The barrow had been looted decades ago, but the mole bats could crawl into and examine the nooks and crannies working their way deep into the burial mound.

The mole bats certainly had no training for what to look for but carried cameras to bring pictures back to the scientists. This was more of a test for the mole bats than to actually provide new knowledge. Joss and Suzie were along to talk to the mole bats and to make sure that this was on the up and up and not a criminal plan for something like a jewelry theft. The purpose of this test was to see if naked mole bats could help explore archaeological sites with a minimum of disturbance to the site.

Rufus had gotten bored and spotted a flock of sheep grazing nearby. Clambering up the biggest, fluffiest sheep he saw, he cuddled into the soft fleece and nodded off to sleep.

His mistake when his comfy bed tilted and started to pitch and bump was to grab on tight, tangling his paws into the fleece. His "bed" then seemed distracted and was walking through the other sheep sniffing the air when it apparently lost its train of thought and walked straight toward the edge of a cliff. As it stepped off into space, Rufus pulled hard on the MMP powering both him and this stupid sheep in an attempt to try levitation. It didn't work but slowed their fall and the drop was only about fifteen feet. The sheep shook itself throwing Rufus clear then trotted off to find the way back up to rejoin its hopefully more intelligent brethren.

"Rufus! You OK there, little pardner?" Joss called down from the top of the cliff as she dropped a rope to him.

"Sheep is stupid," Rufus grouched as he scampered up the rope and onto her shoulder.

Joss laughed, "Sheep are all stupid, Roof." Spotting a faintly glowing ram coming up the hill, she asked, "Did you charge up that sheep?"

"Yes. Tried to levitate. Didn't work."

"Well," giggled Joss, "I reckon this flock is going to see a nice increase in lambs in the spring."

Rufus's eyes grew wide with understanding and he put a paw on his face, "More stupid sheep."

 _ **Tai Chi**_

Kim was at peace as she finished the _Parting the Wild Horse's Mane_ form for Tai Chi. When she was six, she had thought that it should be called _Petting the Pretty Pony_. She let her mind gently wander over the last three weeks. Up at dawn, a five-kilometer easy run to the mountain's foothills and back. then this group Tai Chi exercise in the field outside the main gate with all the monks to settle one's body and mind before breakfast and morning classes.

Master Po had her teaching a children's class in basic movement in the morning and a class on elementary math in the afternoon. The monastery had decided to teach local children basic skills of reading, calligraphy, and math. All children were welcome, even those who had no desire to study to become a monk. Her math class was a lesson in patience as it relied on both her very rough beginning Chinese and her students beginning English to work. She wasn't sure that she was doing any good, but Master Po and her students were pleased with her efforts.

Kim gracefully switched into the _Step Back and Repulse Monkey_ form. She thought, 'Hmm, maybe they should add a _Step Forward and Embrace Monkey-Boy_ form'. If it wasn't for Ron, she would consider remaining here for a full semester, maybe even two to give her time to get a basic knowledge of Chinese and a deeper understanding of Kung Fu and Buddhism. In the evenings, Master Po had been instructing her in both Kung Fu and the Eightfold Path, often at the same time. She was not looking to become a monk but felt that there were things that she wanted to learn.

Then there was Dr. Donar Alfadurson. Tall, broad shoulders, blond hair, a face with dancing eyes of sky blue and a roguish grin that had Kim's body flushing with warmth down to her toes. He was a physician working with the children in the monastery and the people in several close-by villages. He had been eating dinner with Kim and Hirotaka for the last week. His English had no accent that Kim could identify and was vague on his background, but somehow, she had enjoyed their dinner conversations immensely, even though she couldn't necessarily remember the topics. While she certainly hadn't the slightest inclination of replacing Ron with Donar, surely having dinner with him couldn't hurt...

Kim realized that her attraction to Donar had been less subtle than she had thought because last night's lesson had mentioned it.

In their nightly classes, Master Po ran her through practice katas while discussing aspects of the Eightfold Path.

Last night, they worked on _Striking Dragon_. As was his teaching style, Master Po would reach out with his hand or his staff to gently move her body, arm, leg, or hand into the proper position. They started slowly and Kim would build up speed with each repetition. As he physically guided her through the katas, he would speak on the topic of the night.

* * *

"Tonight, I wish to discuss the principle of _Right Action_ ," Master Po had stopped her and corrected her stance slightly. Kim immediately felt the improvement in her balance. "With _Right Action_ , you will strive to recognize the need to act ethically, to consider others and consider the world we live in."

"Makes sense to me, Master," Kim replied, happy to get through a block and strike combo with only one minor adjustment.

"This also includes the five precepts, not to kill, not to steal, not to lie, to avoid sexual misconduct, and not to take drugs or alcohol."

Kim halted her kata. "Master, I have killed," she said softly, looking at the ground.

"My daughter," Po reached over and gently tipped her head up so he could see her eyes, thinking, 'Hiro was correct that vision gives you another sense to see the goodness that exists in this world.'

"Precepts are not commandments or laws that one can break," Po continued, "they are principles to consider in choosing the path you walk. Still, they are not to be lightly ignored. Why did you kill?"

"It was the only way I could think of to stop someone who was going to kill my partner and then try to burn the world."

"Was there no other way?"

"I…I couldn't think of anything; the monkeys were screaming so loud it was hard to think…"

"Were you under the influence of Mystical Monkey Power?" he asked.

"Yes, besides enhancing my strength and speed, it gave me an arrogance, a disdain for my enemy that I found disturbing even while in its grip," Kim admitted.

"Perhaps we should change the list of precepts to include 'not to take drugs, alcohol, or Mystical Monkey Power'?"

"Since then I have been taught to draw on the power without drawing on the rage and arrogance," Kim replied.

Master Po gently prodded her to restart the kata.

"We will talk more about this later, but I wish to discuss another precept". Po took his staff and gently adjusted her arm angle, "Mr. Alfadurson has caught your eye. While I am celibate, as are most Shaolin monks…"

"Master Po, I am not chasing after Dr. Alfadurson!" Kim was on the edge of outrage but waited to see where the old monk was going before throwing herself off that edge.

"Perhaps. But I wish to talk about stealing or to be more exact, to take that which is not freely given." Po gave her another nudge to continue the kata, "Dr. Alfadurson is handsome, charming, a skilled doctor, in all appearances, a truly good man. But I believe that something in him is blocked. It is as if a geas has been laid on him, that before he can reclaim his old life, he must do some task. Surely you have noticed that he is very vague about his past and if you press him he seems disturbed that he can't remember. A short time later he has forgotten all about his distress.

I merely wish to point out that should you decide to have a relationship with him, that he cannot freely give his part of that relationship because of the things he cannot remember. To take what is not freely given or cannot be freely given is theft."

Master Po, after Kim had completed the kata to his satisfaction, demonstrated the Striking Dragon's _Sweep the Sun From the Sky_ move, demonstrating that this old monk still had a move or two left in his old body. Motioning for her to try it, she did. After nearly a dozen attempts with corrections, Kim did the move well enough that the old monk clapped his hands in delight. "Show that to your grandmother. Tell her that you learned it for free, she paid a quarter of a chocolate bar to entice me to teach her!" Master Po's smile lit the night.

Bowing to her, he declared the class over. "One last comment. When dealing with relationships be aware of breaking promises that you have already made to yourself or others. Also consider promises others have made to you."

Being late, she cleaned up and lay down on the mat in her cell hoping to dream of Ron…

 _but she couldn't move her legs. Looking down she saw that Warmonga, lying in a pool of her own blood held them fast. "Join me in death my darling Great Blue and together we will rule all the hells!" Warmonga whispered as Warhawk walked toward her with a cruel laugh on his lips and a dagger dripping blood in his hand. Kim desperately called for the blue and the Lotus Blade. But she had no MMP and the Lotus Blade didn't answer…_

"Miss Possible! Kimberly! Wake up! Kim! you're having a bad dream!"

Kim woke to find the sky-blue eyes of Donar Alfadurson looking with concern into hers and his strong hands gripped her shoulders. A single candle provided soft light in her little room. She felt her body melt against his touch. But the lessons from this night and her mother clicked in her mind.

"Who have you promised? Who has promised you?" Kim murmured.

"What are you talking about, Kim? Are you OK?" Donar answered, leaning closer to her, "Kim, I can feel your desire…"

Kim put her hand on his lips and pushed his head back. "True, my body thinks you are pretty hot. But my mind points out that you can't freely give me of yourself because you can't remember your promises to others or remember what others have promised you. And that my actions can hurt someone who would die rather than hurt me. Thank you very much for waking me from the nightmare. See you at breakfast?"

Eyes worthy of a Viking god clouded with bewilderment and confusion as Donar tried to remember promises made and received, but drew a blank. After a moment his eyes cleared and he said, "Glad I could help, Kimberly. See you at breakfast." He got up and left.

After a minute, Kim got up, toweled off her sweat soaked body, put on a fresh nightshirt, then flipping her mat over to a drier side, went back to sleep dreaming of a blond young man who promised her everything.

* * *

Kim dragged her mind from last night's lesson and application of that lesson back to the sunny here and now. The form coming up was the closing form. She completed it and the cooldown then started back to the monastery for breakfast. She was hoping to run into Donar at breakfast, maybe she could figure out how to help him with his geas. He was a nice guy and a good man, just not a Ron. Pausing when she felt the ground vibrating, she saw a flash of white on the nearby mountainside. Then she heard thunder from the mountain. Darting through the crowd of monks, she dashed back to her quarters to change into mission clothes.

Kim and Hirotaka had their mission gear on and backpacks ready when Master Chun Yen was ready to make assignments.

"Hirotaka and Kim Possible will go with Dr. Alfadurson to the mountain village on your motorcycles. We have runners fetching trucks from the local farmers. I expect that the rest of the monks will be no more than an hour behind Dr. Alfadurson's group."

Dashing to their motorcycles, they mounted up and raced to investigate…

 _ **Contract Part 1**_

"Ron?" Jessica was cruising down the Interstate on the back of Ron's "Scooter 2.0". Basically, a stock Harley Davidson Electra Glide Classic Ultra, except for a few tweaks installed by K's dad James and her uncle Slim. Ron had insisted on them keeping the original engine because he liked the sound, but the electronics suite was second only to a modern fighter jet. Even had a pair of chilled cup holders to keep their Slurpsters cold.

"Yeah?"

"You do know that you live in a house with twenty-eight women, right? There has to be at least one of us with a spare razor, you know."

"I have a razor, thank you very much. Chaos suggested I try the scruffy look at my first counseling session." Ron replied.

Cool slender fingers slipped under the edge of his helmet and ran across his cheek. "Get some conditioner and use it on your whiskers every time you shower. Supposed to make it softer. Don't want to give K rugburn when you two meet up again. And if you need some, just remember…"

Ron parroted, "I live in a house with twenty-eight women, one of them is bound to have extra conditioner. Gotcha."

"Excited about this trip?" Jessica asked.

"Mixed feelings. A little nervous actually. It will be nice getting a couple nights off from the study sessions in the house." Ron admitted.

Jessica snickered, "Hey, can't have naked pillow fights all the time. Besides, you tested out of Chemistry, right?"

"I'm claiming false advertising. I'd settle for just one. And I think Evin coming over to run the sessions helped several of us test out of beginning chemistry."

"Well, I'm excited. This is my first time to make sure that all parties in an important contract are in agreement with their responsibilities and rights. I mean, wow Ron, you are going to bring a family line back to life! How cool is that!"

"Yeah, pretty cool, if I can do it." agreed Ron with worry in his voice.

A few minutes later, Ron asked "Can you go over the contract summary again please?"

"OK, the primary parties are 1) Awanata Booth and 2) Ronald Stoppable. These parties agree to attempt to have a child with the following rights and conditions:"

"After conception, the legal parents of the child are Awanata and Joseph Booth. Should something happen to the parents, custody will be given to Awanata's mother, Wyanet Rutledge. Should that not be possible, joint custody of the child along with any other siblings will be given to Ronald Stoppable and Kimberly Possible."

"Ronald Stoppable and Kimberly Possible will be granted visitation rights to all the children of Awanata and Joseph Booth, subject as much as possible to the needs of all parties, but Awanata and Joseph Booth must allow at least four visits per year on request of Ronald Stoppable or Kimberly Possible.

"Support: The Blue Heart Society will be responsible for any court ordered child support payments until the child reaches the age of eighteen. Ronald Stoppable and Kimberly Possible agree to provide or arrange for training in martial and mystical arts of all children of Awanata and Joseph Booth on request of the children or current guardians. That's pretty much it Ron. Are you sure you want to sign up for teaching all the kids and not just yours?" Jessica's voice was clear over the helmet mounted intercom.

"Yeah, don't want any of the kids feeling like they are not worth the trouble, we'll teach them all. Have they read and agreed to it?"

"Everyone has read it, I think Awanata and Wyanet are ready to sign, I think Joseph wants to meet you first."

"And you can really sign for KP?"

"Yep, Amanda Possible gave me a copy of a Power of Attorney letter that says I can sign for K in this kind of thing."

"Have you talked to KP?"

"Ron, I tried to contact K, but I was told she was on a mission in China and was expected to be unreachable for a month or so. I am going on what her mom told me her intentions would be in this case."

"And what did Mrs. Dr. P say?"

"She told me that K intends to marry you and even if you don't get a clue and marry her, she wants to be by your side for any and all of your children no matter who the mother is. The 'don't get a clue' are K's words, not mine."

They rode along another hour in a companionable silence. Ron slowed as the GPS navigation pointed out the upcoming destination on the display built into the windscreen. Turning down a gravel road cutting across open grassland, he was soon at a group of tidy ranch style homes with pickup trucks, SUVs and Mrs. Dr. P's van on the parking pad. Several horses in a fenced-in pasture wandered over to peer at them in curiosity.

Ann walked out of the nearest house to meet them, followed by a couple in their early thirties dressed in jeans and western cut shirts and an older woman in an ankle length geometric patterned dress. Ann introduced Ron and Jessica to the others, the couple was Awanata and Joseph Booth with the older woman being Wyanet Rutledge. Invited in, they were introduced to the Booth's daughters; Onilee was two and Merope was five. Merope took Onilee to the family room to play while the adults went to the kitchen to talk over iced tea.

Wyanet took Ron's face in her hands and stared deeply into his eyes, "I believe you are Jessica Stormrider's son. I see it in your eyes and can feel the shaman in your soul. Disturbed, she pulled back, "You carry a spirit, child?"

"Yes ma'am. It is the Mystical Monkey Power, I…" Ron started to explain.

"No!" Wyanet cut him off. "We will speak more of this later. It has no bearing on your business here today."

"Is the agreement clear? Perhaps I should go over it to make sure there is no misunderstanding…" Jessica pulled out some papers from her courier bag.

"No. The contract is clearly written, but I would first speak with Ron alone," Joseph stood and motioned Ron to the back door, his flat features unreadable and black eyes stern."

"OK, let's go," Ron hopped up and walked out the back door.

Jessica watched Joseph follow Ron out to the backyard. She noticed that he was quite a bit taller than Ron, heavily built, and had jet black hair in a coarse braid that almost reached his belt. She was intimidated, but she was here to make sure that everyone understood and agreed. She laid her papers on the table and headed for the door.

"Jessica," Ann started to say something but Jessica cut her off.

"Sorry Mrs. P, got a job to do," and headed out the back.

She quickly caught up to Joseph and Ron who had sat down on opposite sides of a picnic table. She had read somewhere that in a tense negotiation you sit next to your adversaries and across from your allies. It wasn't really a case of adversaries and allies here, but she sat down on Joseph's side.

"Ms. Fields, I need to talk to Ron man to man, please."

Jessica fought back her intimidation saying, "Mr. Booth. My job is to make sure that you, Mrs. Booth, Ron and Kim are satisfied with the agreement and with what Ron is going to do. If **_I_** don't believe that everyone is happy, including you, then **_I_** call it off and we all go home."

"I am not happy that another man will make love to my wife, but I understand how important this child will be," Joseph growled.

"Dude, I am not touching your wife!" Ron protested.

Jessica knew from her background papers that Joseph had degrees in animal husbandry, agronomy and something to do with forest management. Maybe this is just a basic misunderstanding.

"Mr. Booth," Jessica was going to get a crick in her neck looking up at the tall man, "Let's go back inside, talk to your wife, and figure out a ceremony or something that will result in a child using your physical love and Stormrider genetics via some sort of artificial insemination."

Joseph wasn't glaring at her, that was good, right? He started to get up when Ron asked his question.

"Hold on a second. Are you going to be able to love and cherish this child the same as if it were of your flesh and blood? I am told that any children I have will have Native American physical characteristics. But I have never had a child. What if they are wrong? Could you love and cherish a child that looks like me?"

Joseph gave Ron the courtesy of pausing to honestly consider the question. "Yes, I can. Because this child will be half from my wife. That makes it mine to love, cherish and protect, forever and always."

Joseph turned the question back on Ron. "What about you? Don't you feel any responsibility toward this child?"

"Of course," replied Ron, "but let's face it, I'm a college freshman. If I was the main parent, I'd want to delay having the child until I had a job and could provide for it. Don't misunderstand me, if anything happens to you, I will provide for all your children to the best of my ability. But right now, the best thing for this child is to be raised by you and Awanata with Kim and me doing what we can to help on the side."

Joseph considered Ron's words and nodded. He turned to Jessica and said, "Let's go inside and plan how to do this in a way that will let me show my love and devotion for Awanata and still respect Mr. Stoppable.

Ron followed the two back into the kitchen. Earlier, he had complained that Jessica was making him feel like a tool and ignored the hard work she had done in helping him settle into college. He had apologized to her for that. Once again, he was starting to feel like a tool again, but maybe a tool can be proud of the thing that it helped to make?


	4. Successes?

_**Author's Notes.**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, plot hole detection and valuable editing on parts of this story. Any remaining problems with this story are entirely my property. :)

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **Frost Giants**_

 _ **Its handle stuck out of the snow, abandoned. It waited for someone worthy to grasp it and use it. For Justice. To Defend. Never for Vengeance. It once had a Master, but they had made a mistake and left it behind until they could prove themselves worthy again. To abandon one's path because of a mistake was foolish. It would wait for its former Master to pull their head out of their nether regions or perhaps another worthy soul would wander by. It was patience itself. It was Mjöllnir.**_

Kim clung to Hirotaka on his bike racing down the dirt road to the mountain village. It certainly wasn't Ron's Harley and she would have traded not only Hirotaka's bike, but Hirotaka himself for Ron _and_ his bike in a heartbeat. Hiro was stand of bamboo, strong and flexible in the face of the storm. Nearly impossible to truly defeat. Ron was the oak, strong and unyielding until breaking to protect those he sheltered. Because sometimes personal survival isn't the top priority. Arriving at the village they dismounted and started to look around. Expecting an avalanche, they saw only a snow trail leading to a devastated village. The snow trail had footprints, large unearthly footprints.

People came running up from their hiding places in the wreckage and started all talking at once. Donar turned grim, turned and raced up the snow path into the mountain.

"Hiro! What are they saying!" Kim shouted to be heard over the growing crowd.

"They say that giants smashed their homes and carried off people," Hirotaka answered.

"I'm going after Donar, stay here and get the people ready to evacuate!" then seeing the rebellion in Hiro's eyes, she added "I can't do it, I don't speak enough Chinese!" Finally seeing him give a nod then start talking to the villagers, she dashed up the snow path after Donar.

Running around boulders blocking the path, she came to a small snow-covered field. At the far edge was a glowing portal, in the center were three giants made of ice? One carried three struggling villagers in its arms. Using her hairdryer grapple she caught an arm and digging in her heels pulled with all her strength. The arm loosened enough for the villagers to slip free. Staggering away from the giant who was looking puzzled at his arm, they fled toward her, then past her to escape.

'Call me' a soft voice whispered in her head. Looking around, she saw a handle sticking out of the snow. 'The Lotus Blade is here?', she wondered. That the Lotus Blade was here and not halfway around the world gave her hope. As the giants looked around to see where their snacks had gone to, Kim held out her hand and thought, "Come, I need you".

A short-handled hammer flew out of the snow and its hilt smacked into her hand. Immediately, she felt every cell in her body light up with energy. She felt herself grow physically, certainly becoming more muscular. Either that or her underwear was shrinking. Her peripheral vision narrowed as a helmet appeared on her head and vaguely Roman style leather armor reinforced with metal plates formed on her body. She reached down and managed to struggle out of her cargo pants and panties before they gave her a debilitating wedgie. She felt the straps on her sports bra snap. At least it wasn't her favorite pink one.

"Pike!" she commanded the weapon in her hand. Nothing happened. All right, not the Lotus Blade then. None of her Kung Fu styles had a short-handled hammer form. Deciding that just hitting the target with the hammer would do for a start, she swung the hammer meeting an oncoming giant icy fist. The fist shattered and the giant drew back a stump. Unfortunately, the fist grew back as she watched, but maybe a little smaller?

"This one fights back!" roared the first giant.

"Looks too scrawny to share, I call dibs!" called the second.

"Mine!" the first giant reached for Kim. Kim swung at the giant, but not used to her changed physique, the hammer slipped from her hand and flew into the giant's chest causing its entire body to shatter.

"Ha! Ha! The scrawny one is now mine!" the second giant shouted in glee while the third just looked befuddled. It stretched out its hand to snatch up Kim. Kim raised her arm to redirect the blow, but the hammer had continued through the first giant's chest and was circling around back to her. It followed the motion of her hand and shattered the second giant's arm.

The third giant finally was able to complete its thought. "Thor has returned to Midgard, we must report!" and started for the portal.

Kim's mind was racing. First, she realized that the hammer, once thrown, could be guided in its flight. Then she was trying to decide whether to let the Ice Giants escape when she noticed Donar diving through the portal. Chasing after him she thought that he was drawing off the Ice Giants and the Ice Midgets, as the shards from the first one's shattered body had reformed into waist high creatures. Whatever they were called, every one of the ice beings were now following Donar through the portal.

The portal was starting to close, she wasn't going to make it. A calm, sane Kim Possible would have stopped and called it a day. This Kim Possible listened to the small voice that said "Throw me but don't let go." Snatching up her cargo pants, she hurled the hammer at the portal, then caught it at the last instant. The hammer pulled her along like a rocket and together they flew through the portal just as it closed.

Her landing on the other side was less than graceful, but the soft snow prevented road rash at the cost of snow down parts of her armor. Scrambling to her feet and looking around, she saw crystalline Ice Giants as beautiful as the ones she had fought were ugly. They were speaking in a language that she did not understand to the Ice Giants and Ice Midgets. Donar was in the arms of a golden-haired woman. From the passion of their embrace Kim realized that first, Donar's memory seemed to be doing much better and second, he probably didn't care about any geas at the moment. A dark-haired man with a flaming sword stood between them and all the Ice Creatures.

"Brother, Sif, perhaps it would be a good idea for you two to take that back to the palace and get a room. I think our welcome here is about to run out." Looking at Kim, he added with a wink of his eye, "Thor, perhaps you should accompany us for the time being." A portal sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow opened at her back.

Kim walked over and between the two of them, they managed to get the lip-locked couple through the rainbow portal.

 _ **Contract Part 2**_

(The home of Awanata And Joseph Booth)

That evening, everything was set up and ready, mostly to Awanata and Jessica's specifications. Flowers and candles oozed romance in the master bedroom. Awanata wore a white lacy nightgown which highlighted the honey brown of her skin and she lay on the bed like a princess awaiting her prince in some romantic fairytale. The problem was Ron. For this case, the BHS required two witnesses to the production and use of Ron's "contribution". After some discussion, the women decided that Awanata and Jessica would be the witnesses. On their way out, Ann and Wyanet took Jessica aside and talked to her briefly leaving a blushing Jessica behind.

Finally, it was just Ron, Jessica and Awanata in the room. That's when Ron discovered performance anxiety. His body wouldn't cooperate. Even in a room with an admittedly beautiful Native American 'Princess' and an honestly hot former Middleton cheerleader, both situations that had to be popular in porn, Ron couldn't perform. Jessica gave him five minutes then walked over to him, putting oil on her hands and briskly rubbing them together to generate heat.

"Let me help you. I know this is hard. May I touch you?" Jessica murmured.

Ron's brain was about to seize. He was in a bedroom with two beautiful women, one who wanted to pleasure him but his body was insisting that neither was Kim. The bedroom's dim light changed to a blue tint.

"Tell her yes, child," said a loving voice, "Kim will love this child because it is part of you."

"Yes, please and thank you." whispered Ron.

"Just lean back and relax…" Jessica commanded.

"And think of England?"

"No, you goof, think of K, her green eyes and those cute freckles under her left breast," murmured Jessica as Awanata gave a very unprincesslike snort and laugh.

After Ron's part was complete, he fled the room, leaving Jessica behind. After Ann deposited Ron's contribution and then inserted a diaphragm into Awanata to give Ron's semen exclusive access to Awanata's reproductive parts, everyone else left to give Awanata and Joseph private time, start supper and play with the girls.

After dinner, Wyanet pulled Ron aside to talk.

"Ron, tell me of this MMP." she asked.

When Ron got to the part where he talked about Kala, the MMP avatar, she interrupted him.

"Does this 'Kala' seem happy?" she asked.

"I think so? I haven't really asked it. It seems to have been stunned or something while it was in the Jade Statues. It seems to be remembering and discovering things about what it can and can't do."

"Binding a power to an inanimate object can be done using a sacrificial person. The person binds the power to the object."

"And if that object is me?"

"Then it is trapped inside you. Since you are a living soul, there may be a way to free it. Talk to it, Ron. But now you must sleep. This is only Thursday night. You have to do a repeat performance Friday and Saturday night…" Wyanet smiled and handed him blankets and a pillow for the couch.

—-

Ron found himself sitting against the tree under the forest canopy. He had Kala sitting in his lap with his arms wrapped around her. This was only possible because Kala had shrunk to half her normal height.

"Hey, big momma." Ron soothed, "Are you OK? What can I do to help you?"

"Child, I think that the shaman may be right. I think that interacting with you and Kimberly has stimulated my mental processes and I am starting to remember an earlier life."

"Were you an Egyptian princess or something?"

"No, child." the mini-Mangani replied, "That is why I think it might be true. I think I was a librarian of sorts, a seeker of knowledge, and a recorder of facts. Much too ordinary to be a fantasy."

"So how do we break the spell that has you trapped?" Ron mused out loud, "Do we need to get you a new body?"

"I do not know. Perhaps that knowledge will come to me in time as my memory improves. But for now, we have another task to perform. We must get you over your shyness. I fear that Kimberly will not be happy if Jessica continues to assist you."

"I know. It was nice, but it wasn't right and I am pretty sure that Jessica was uncomfortable about doing it for me." Ron said.

"It is best if she does not get comfortable with doing that for you or I see red-haired violence in your future." teased the Mangani, "I want you to practice a meditation where you focus on Kimberly and exclude your surroundings. Focus on her hair, her eyes, the way she laughs. You've seen, touched and tasted her body, bring those memories to the surface…"

Ron spent the next thirty minutes in pleasant, erotic meditation, waking with a severe case of morning wood. He blanked his mind to settle his body, not wanting to pollute his earlier Kim memories with, for example, imagining Duff Killigan and Amy Hall frolicking naked over the heather.

The next couple of days went by quickly. Ron was able to contribute without assistance. If Jessica was either relieved or disappointed, she never said.

Three of the other houses in the little family compound were occupied by Wyanet's other children and their spouses. Awanata had two younger sisters and a younger brother. Currently only Awanata had children, but it was obvious from looking at one of her sisters and her sister-in-law, that the child population would be increasing soon. They had stayed away the first night so as not to spook the visitors, but the next morning curiosity won out and Ron found himself happily helping Wyanet cook breakfast for a crowd while Jessica amended the contracts to allow for the extended family. What was strange to Ron and Jessica was that everyone knew why they were there and they all thought it was cause for a family celebration.

Awanata and Joseph along with the aunts and uncles absolutely doted on the two daughters. Onilee and Merope were adorable to the point where Ron, Jessica, and Ann were soon all doting on them as well.

"I'm gonna be the protector!" Merope declared to Ron, "Protect my sister and my new baby brothers and my new baby sister from bad monsters!"

Ron thought that was a little scary in a totally cute and adorable way.

"Then let's start your training to be a protector." Ron replied and started teaching her the 'Turn the page' blocking technique that he had taught Hana not all that long ago. Onilee soon came over and joined in the game. Joseph watched from the sidelines, glad that Ron had started his little firebrands on a strictly defensive technique. The more he watched Ron in action with both daughters, the more he liked what he saw. What he saw was a young man that would be good to have around his children.

After a leisurely Sunday morning breakfast, they packed up what little they had brought and loaded it on Ron's bike. Jessica had signed copies of the agreement ready to file when she returned to the house. Goodbyes were said, little ones were hugged and it was time to leave.

Joseph and Awanata walked Ron and Jessica out to his bike. Ann had already left in her van.

"Ron, Jessica." the tall man with teak-colored skin did actually know how to smile, "I saw how you treated our girls. You are welcome to visit anytime. You will forgive me if I hope that you were successful with Awanata so we don't have to do this part again."

"I'll be back with Kim, she will love the girls too, I know it." said Ron.

"K is really good with kids. Merope told me that she has to protect her new baby brothers and sisters from bad spirits. What is that about?" Jessica asked

"Mom thinks Merope is blessed with foresight and knows about the new children. We will see." replied Awanata.

Awanata hugged Jessica, saying, "Thank you Jess, for looking out for my family." She moved over and gave Ron a hug, snickering, "From now on, you will be remembered in our family legends as 'Thinker of England'."

The pair mounted the bike and with a wave, they headed back to the NOPE house and classes.

An hour down the road, Jessica, tired of the silence asked Ron, "So, how are you feeling Ron? Excited about the baby?"

"No, feeling a little down to tell you the truth."

"Why? The Booths seemed like great people, Onilee and Merope were super adorable and even Wyanet seemed really nice. And they have nice aunts and uncles that live right next door! Seems like a great environment to bring a new baby into."

"It is. But they don't need me. They just needed the Stormrider DNA I carry. The child will have a loving family, heck even horses to ride. How cool is that? Oh, I never said thanks for helping me perform the first time, so thanks for helping me. I might have failed totally if not for you getting me started."

"You're welcome, Ron. Don't mention it. Seriously, don't mention it. I don't want to get a close-up Kung Fu lesson from K if she ever finds out. Look at it this way, you get to be the cool Uncle Ron that shows up to spoil all their kids from time to time."

"I suppose. Still, it seems like I'm going to be on the outside looking in…"

"Ron, you are thinking too small. Don't think of this as gaining a baby, think of it as expanding your larger family."

"What?"

"OK, think of Joseph, Awanata and the rest as a new sisters and brothers. Maybe sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law? Anyway, keep in touch with at least Joseph and Awanata, not as the parents of your child, but as people to add to your direct family."

"Maybe." Ron didn't sound entirely convinced, "Hmm, I wonder if they would teach Hana to ride a horse…"

 _ **Hunt for the Blue**_

Commander Pakshok strode into the main briefing room. He saw most of his off-duty bridge crew, crewmen from the analysis and protocol sections and a figure dressed in black wearing a long black cloak edged in red.

"Good morning people," he said cheerfully, "Monk Warnatius," nodding politely to the figure in black.

"Status Mr. Paksescu?" he said, taking a seat at the table.

"Commander, we are currently meeting and negotiating access and landfall rights with representatives of various governments including several Presidents and Prime Ministers, two Kings, a Queen and two Central Committees.

In the meantime, our team of three Emperor's Blades has recovered the Spear of Fire's logs and armored data storage.

The detectives on loan to us from the Imperial Investigation Group have found and talked to the defenders flying aerial attack craft that brought the Spear down. In doing so, they have a lead on several good beers and a food item called perogies. Also, something called haggis. Between their reports and the data from the recovered logs, we believe that a strike team of four people infiltrated the Spear, ejected the fusion core, set up some timed explosives and left the ship."

"How did the strike team get on the ship?" Pakshok wondered out loud.

"That's the crazy part sir, two were picked up and held as prisoners, the other two flew up in a small space shuttle and were allowed to dock. We have some video from their data logs."

A screen lit up and showed the inside of a large shuttle bay with Ron and Shego laying sprawled on the deck, unmoving.

Presently a bulge appeared in the chest of one of the figures. The bulge struggled and the fabric tore open exposing a small pink four-legged shape. It scampered over to the second figure that was starting to sit up.

Warnatius sat up straight murmuring, "That looks like a luo-yan-shu, the legendary companion of ancient mystic fighters of the warrior class."

The screen went dark as a blue spark flew across the bay, stuck in the wall and slowly started burning a groove down it. The emergency lights in the bay came on showing the standing figure take off its helmet, showing a pale, dark haired woman. The pink creature climbed up and into the collar ring on her suit, then the woman resealed her helmet.

They saw her put a patch on the other figure's suit. As the other figure sat up, it held out its hand, the blue spark flew across the bay missing its hand and striking the woman in the chest. It then changed into a sword with a thin, narrow, curved blade and fell to the ground.

The other figure picked up the sword, the two walked to the wall that the blue spark had burned a groove into. Opening the groove into a passageway using some sort of green flame, the pair exited the bay.

"Has anyone seen a tool like that?" asked Pakshok.

"Could be that it's a Liánhuā Yèpiàn," said Warnatius, "If so, we could turn this planet into an asteroid field and it would survive, patiently waiting for the right person to call it to their hand."

Paksescu said, "But it didn't come to their hand. First, it stuck into the wall and then when they held out their hand, it missed and struck the woman before falling to the floor. Perhaps your wish to find these mythical defenders is coloring your perception, my friend."

"You could be right, Commander. Still, an object like this is worth further investigation." answered the dark Monk.

They continued going over logs and came across the native, four-man strike team battling in a large corridor.

A red-haired fury fighting in a style of always moving leaps, kicks, and strikes. Interestingly, this fighter wore a belted robe similar to the Monk, but hers was shorter allowing maximum mobility.

A blond-haired man fought near her and the Monk was fascinated to see the man's weapon repeatedly change shape to become a different weapon in a flash of blue.

The other two fought side by side. A man, with some sort of druid powers, controlled plants that seemed to grow from his very body. Besides him fought the Elementalist they had seen in the first video. The video ended when all the Lowardian spacers had been defeated and the strike team exited into what looked like some sort of cargo airlock.

"Thoughts?" asked Pakshok. He was a man of science but admitted that mystical things existed where mystical simply meant a science that he didn't understand.

"Commander, I must speak to these people." the Monk practically vibrated with excitement. "I have so many questions, For example:"

"The young man clearly controls the Liánhuā Yèpiàn, as you can see him change its shape but the luo-yan-shu can be seen riding the red-haired woman's shoulder. Plus, if they are there to destroy the ship, why are they so careful not to kill their attackers? It appears that the Elementalist alone could have burned them to ash and the red-haired martial artist was clearly preferring non-lethal attacks. I postulate that this team did not knowingly plant explosives and belongs to a holy order that forbids killing at least in self-defense."

"The terms you use." asked Pakshok. "Where do they come from? I don't recognize the dialect."

Warnatius replied, "They are from a message drone sent back by a lone Lowardian researcher working on this planet centuries ago. She was chasing down reports of mystical warriors who were given special fighting powers and special weapons. Her thesis was that these powers and weapons could be copied and used by the Emperor's personal guard, the unit that is now called the Emperor's Blades. The terms are taken from the local language. The message drone's notes were misplaced until recently and are the source of the 'Great Blue' rumors."

"Did no one notice her disappearance?" asked Pakshok.

"Researcher Paksairlea was from a common family that lacked the wealth or political interest to initiate a search."

Mr Paksecu interrupted. "It appears that an IIG detective has obtained a video from someone who is in contact with two of the strike team." He typed a command into a console and a picture of a huge male Lowardian with a slightly smaller female Lowardian facing off against the red-haired woman and the blond man in some sort of area with sparse, short grasses present.

They all sat silent after the video ended. The start of the battle was nothing like the corridor fights they had watched earlier, both natives had a faint blue aura and at first only the blond and the larger Lowardian were really fighting. The blond used a new fighting style full of jumps, tumbling and striking the opponent in passing. There was a pause where the red-head clearly called the Liánhuā Yèpiàn to her hand after which the two Lowardians briefly fought and the male killed the female. They saw the male Lowardian raise a bloody dagger in an attack stance and make a "Let's finish this" motion with his other hand. The end of the fight was as short as it was brutal. Make no mistake, the two smaller natives slaughtered the Lowardian who weighed more than twice their combined weight. It was not a fight, it was an execution.

Three things were clear:

First, the red-haired woman and blond man might not kill in self-defense, but to threaten the people on their planet was to invite certain death.

Second, the red-haired female could call the Liánhuā Yèpiàn directly and immediately to her hand.

Last, the blond male was wrapped in a bright blue aura right before he ripped his opponent's heart from his body. The aura reflected not his shape, but a vaguely humanoid shape with a tail.

Monk Warnatius thought, "Researcher Paksairlea, your work was not in vain, you will be remembered."

 _ **Heimdallr**_

The portal dropped them on a gleaming bridge shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. Quite a trip actually, Kim thought that mere skydiving would never give her the same rush. Standing at the end of the bridge stood a huge pale-skinned man in full armor holding a huge sword vertically, point down against the bridge. Behind him was a gate and behind the gate was a glittering city.

"Welcome back my friends and welcome Lady Kimberly." he boomed and then smiled, showing gold teeth. "Come with me please, Lady Kimberly and I will make certain you are ready to enter Asgard. My name is Heimdallr."

"How do you know my name?" asked Kim as she was guided toward a house by the gate.

"I might have heard it when you were introduced to Master Po." Heimdallr pulled off his helmet.

Kim looked at his pale skin and white hair. "Are you really the 'whitest of all the gods'?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"My cousin Larry was critiquing a movie that had you in it. You were dark skinned in the movie and he said that the movie was inaccurate."

"Your cousin Larry sounds like a wise man. I trust the actor they picked was incredibly handsome." laughed Heimdallr.

Heimdallr led her into a kitchen with a table and chairs. It looked disturbingly like her parent's kitchen in their old house in Middleton. "I thought a familiar place would sooth your nerves. I have some very nice mead, or," he gave her a sour, slightly disgusted look, "I could make some tea, some boring, plain tea, perhaps with a little honey."

"Tea, please and thank you. I thought you brought me here to test me?" Kim asked, "You know, to see if I was worthy of entering Asgard"

Her host had a booming laugh, "My Lady, you carry Mjöllnir without using Thor's iron gauntlets. Not even Odin can lift Mjöllnir bare handed. That Mjöllnir allows you to do that proves you are worthy of entering Asgard."

"I have very sharp vision and hearing. Seeing you would need them, I have gathered some suitable clothing for you for when you are not carrying that hammer. If you are not armored and pick it up, I saw that Mjöllnir will provide armor. But grasping that hammer also changes you physically, I saw you become more muscular and taller. I assume stronger as well. When you let go of the hammer, you should slowly revert to your smaller, normal self."

"Sif provided the clothes, I described your size, if they don't fit, it is my lack of eloquence in describing your size." He placed a mug of hot tea in front of her and set a little jar of honey beside it with a spoon."

"Who is Sif?" Kim sipped the tea, finding it closer to espresso than orange pekoe, she stirred in a little honey.

"She was the goddess who met Thor in the land of the Ice Giants. She is his wife."

"Wait, so Dr. Donar Alfadurson was really Thor the Thunder God with some sort of enchantment on him? And he's married?"[1]

"Yes, he decided that he had become unworthy of Mjöllnir and was traveling in Midgard as a healer to try to prove himself worthy." Heimdallr had gone to a cupboard and returned with a plate with cheese, crackers and cookies that he set on the table in front of Kim.

"Who was the man that had the flaming sword?"

"That was Loki, Thor's adopted brother. When they were young, Sif, Thor and Loki were inseparable and to this day are loyal to each other. Be wary of Loki, he is a real jerk of a god that likes to play jokes on others and his sense of humor has gotten him and others in trouble. For example, Mjöllnir is partly an apology for cutting off Sif's hair and partly the result of a trick he played on the dwarves who made it. That trick almost lost him his head…"

Having an afternoon tea and cookies with a Norse God might not have been the strangest thing that Kim could remember, but she was pretty sure that it was at least second.

While Heimdallr was far seeing and hearing and all that, he wasn't omnipotent. Kim pulled her Kimmunicator out of her cargo pants pocket and played the video she and Ron made of her and Hana playing Skeeball. He roared with delight at the sight of Ron doing a victory dance with Hana. Later, she showed a video of Joss and her brothers with their robot Pegasus.

Looking thoughtful, he said, "You and your friend Ron have very interesting siblings."

"Ron Stoppable is my partner!"

"Shouldn't he be here with you then?" Heimdallr honestly asked.

"Sif wasn't with Thor when he was wandering around Earth!"

"Perhaps Thor was a fool."

"Maybe I am the fool in this case." Kim admitted. "I failed to plan to be together with him on the college thing and now we are working to get ready to be back together again."

Perhaps we should get you back to your Ron sooner rather than later. Perhaps after the battle."

"What battle?"

"The Nine Sons of Thrívaldi are leading a warband of Jotunn against Asgard as we speak. The bridge will not be clear enough to let you go back until after the battle. It appears that they did not take Thor's cutting off their father's heads well."

"Heads?" Kim had already had a long morning and was suspecting that it wasn't over yet.

"Yes, Thrívaldi had nine heads, one to keep watch on each son."

"Why?"

"Well, Lady Kim when you have sons you will understand how hard it is to keep track…"

"No, I mean why did Thor cut off his heads?"

"Not sure. Sometimes I think that Thor just likes to fight. But we need to get to the gate." Heimdallr got up, put on his helmet and walked out the door.

Kim grabbed Mjöllnir, feeling herself swell with strength and added muscles. Fresh armor formed around her. 'Spanking _._ ' she thought, ' _Certainly_ easier than putting on mission clothes.' She followed her host out of his house and into chaos.

The battle was horrific. Kim had fought one on one against Shego and sometimes one on several against henchmen, but this was a swirling cloud of violence where she was at most, waist high on her foes. They just kept coming. She was holding her own with Mjöllnir wreaking destruction on trolls and the occasional giant. Her hammer-strength brought her gymnastic dodging and attacking to new levels. Some attacks she blocked outright using her shield. She didn't remember getting a shield, it was just there.

She remembered glimpses of Thor wielding a huge axe with glee, a worried looking Loki with a sword of fire, and even saw Sif in the fight. But then she was caught off guard and hit with a giant's mace that had a head the size of a Buick. Falling crumpled and broken to the ground, the last thing she remembered of the battle was Asgardians chanting "For Lady Kim!".

1) Donar is another name for Thor and "Alfadurson" is "son of Alfadur" or "son of father of all". So this makes the name expand to "Thor the son of the father of all". Which I think is cooler than "Steve".

Now the best I can figure, Odin is not really the father of all, but is sometimes called the "Father of All" anyway. A couple of references that you might find interesting besides Wikipedia are (after removing extra spaces)

www. veritablehokum comic /the-norse-god-family-tree/

www. britam / AesirSalverda. HTML

Or just mentally think "Steve" when you see Donar.


	5. Start of a Day

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable editing on parts of this story. Seriously, thanks guys, your interaction has easily more than doubled my pleasure in writing this. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

Any appearance or mention of Wanda Wang and/or Suzie Chin are thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in his epic "Once Again" story arc.

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **Eir**_

Thor walked to the gate carrying a bloody and broken Kim Possible. He was met there by a tall red-haired healer. "Eir, this is Lady Kim, she actually followed me into battle on Midgard to defend me."

"Give her to me, I'll claim her," the woman said, taking Kim from Thor, "although it appears to me that she may be a fool. Surely she didn't think that you needed defending?"

"No, she did not know who I was, she just saw a fellow human in trouble and jumped to help. She is now the one whose hand wields Mjöllnir."

Eir nodded, a bit more impressed now and carried her fallen warrior into Asgard.

Kim's head hurt. Actually, most of her hurt, but her head was the most notable source of pain. Opening her eyes, which also hurt, she saw she was inside a room of some sort.

"My Lady," came a soft voice, "do you think that you can eat this?" Kim saw a hand holding a slice of fruit. Turning her head a little, which hurt, she saw a woman's concerned face, a face with green eyes, freckles and bordered with red hair.

"Joss? Is that really you?" Kim wondered out loud.

"No, my Lady," spoke the woman, "I am Eir, a healer and Valkyrie. Now, do you think you can eat this?" she waggled the slice of fruit.

"What is it?"

"A slice of yellow apple"

"And what does it do?" Kim eyed the fruit with suspicion though even that hurt.

Eir sighed, "It will finish healing the damage in your body, remove infection, relieve pain, make your hair softer and shinier, remove skin blemishes, prevent gassiness, provide a measure of immortality, prevent pregnancy…"

"Wait, what was that last thing?"

"These yellow apples if eaten regularly, roughly four times a year, provide immortality…"

"Never mind that, the pregnancy part."

Eir looked curiously at her patient, "You cannot become pregnant for at least four weeks after eating one."

Kim opened her mouth. As Eir slipped the apple slice between her lips, she wondered, "OK, contraceptive of the gods versus MMP fertility… Might be worth a shot…"

After the first slice, Kim felt good enough to sit up a little. Eir assisted her and placed pillows behind her. Eir cut more slices of apple and fed them to her.

"Did I have a hammer with me when you found me?" Kim asked.

"Your hammer is out on the Bifrost, no one can move it. Please don't call it, I like my walls to be without holes."

"When can I leave?" Kim asked.

"Anxious to get back into battle, I see," Eir approved, "You need another two days to heal completely. The healing effect works best in Asgard, so it is best to remain here. The other benefits of the apple will continue for about a month afterward no matter where you go. That comes in handy, trust me, you will need the apple's protection in Svartalfheim. The chili of the dwarves you find there is truly legendary, but without protection from an apple slice, the after effects are brutal."

"Is Heimdallr's house considered inside Asgard with respect to healing? He was nice, I'd like to visit him again."

"Yes, you will heal quickly at his house."

"How many more do I have to eat?"

"Just this one, but you need time to heal so remain in Asgard for a couple of days. Sleep now and in the morning you will be fit enough to get up and walk around," Eir laid a cool hand on Kim's forehead and Kim remembered nothing else that day.

Kim awoke with the light of morning feeling pretty good. She figured it was the light of morning, there were no actual windows in the room, but the outside walls were translucent and let in light. Looking around, she found a bathroom with a recognizable toilet and shower. There was even a hairbrush on a sink, scented soaps, and towels. Thinking it was a little funny that even gods had to poop sometimes, she got washed up and ready for the day. Finding the bundle of clothes that Sif had provided, she managed to figure out how to put them on and went out in search of breakfast.

"Good morning, Lady Thor," Loki teased as he ran into her in the corridor.

"Just Kim is fine, Loki. Or is it Lord Loki?" replied Kim, her mind ignoring her body pointing out that "Loki was kind of old, but still a hottie."

"Just Loki is fine, have you broke fast this day?"

"No, in fact, I am looking for food."

"Follow me, I am going to the dining hall myself."

Kim thought that 'food of the gods' wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Some very nice fruit, some great looking bread, but mostly stacks and stacks of meat and endless pitchers of mead. And singing. The place was full of warriors just back from some battle somewhere and given the endless mead, that meant singing. Loud, off-key singing. Loki was over by a large group singing with them. Stacking fruit, bread and even some meat on a platter, she got a goblet of "just water" from a servant who also gave her directions to the Bifrost.

Arriving at Heimdallr's house, she found the white guardian in a trance, or maybe just meditating. The hammer was sitting on the Bifrost where she had dropped in in the battle. Sitting down on the steps to the house, she ate her breakfast and enjoyed the warm sun.

Presently she saw Thor leading a dozen warriors walking across the bridge. Loki came out the gate to meet them. The other warriors walked through the gate leaving the two brothers alone on the bridge.

"Brother!" said Thor, "We have given the Jotunn a beating that they will not soon forget!"

"Their grievances seemed valid, perhaps you should have negotiated instead." Loki pointed out.

"Negotiations are for the weak!" Thor shouted.

Kim got up and walked toward the bickering pair. It seemed to her to be an old argument.

"If I ruled, Asgard would be stronger because we would have allies, not foes!"

"Wait, wait!" Kim stepped between Loki and Thor pushing them apart.

She turned to Loki, "You want to rule Asgard?"

"Yes! I have studied all my life to be a great ruler, but the All-Father has declared Thor to be the rightful heir."

She turned to Thor, "You don't want to rule Asgard, you'd rather be out leading troops and fighting to defend Asgard and Midgard, right?"

"Yes, but the All-Father has declared me the rightful heir!"

Still addressing Thor who clearly didn't see where this was going, "Do you think that you would make a better ruler than Loki?"

"No, I have not the patience and scheming wit that Loki has, but the All-Father has declared me the rightful heir!"

Kim was starting to lose her temper, "Then when you are the ruler, then abdicate to Loki under the condition that you become the Defender of the Realm or something like that! That way, he gets to rule and you get to fight!"

Both thought for a second then together started, "The All-Father has declared…"

Kim threw up her hands in defeat, "gods! Do you two even listen to what you're saying? It sounds _stupid_!". She turned and stomped back to a laughing Heimdallr.

"And what just is so funny, Mr. 'I'm a god and can foresee all the punchlines'?" Kim snapped as she walked up to him.

Heimdallr engulfed Kim in a huge hug, extinguishing her anger. "I can foresee the most probable futures. For ages, these visions have remained unchanged. But you are changing the very definition of what is probable!"

"What do you see in my future?" Kim asked even though she knew it was a bad idea.

"I can't see you at all!" Heimdallr roared with delight, "You, your partner, your sisters, your brothers, none of the young ones you showed me on your device."

"And that is good because?" asked Kim.

"That is great because now the gods in Asgard will have to learn to think and plan, not just blindly accept the foretold future!"

"Blindly accept the foretold future?" asked Kim.

"Yes!" Heimdallr roared with delight. "Odin gathers the mightiest warriors at his side because he knows that Fenrir the mighty wolf is going to murder him at the end. Not that he hopes to defeat him, but wants to die in a blaze of glory!" Seeing that Kim wasn't understanding, he continued, "Fenrir hasn't even been born yet! Until I saw you, I believed that our fates are already decided and the best we could do is to die fighting with a battle cry in our hearts and a smile on our lips!"

Kim was considering his words when she noticed an unarmored man run out the gate and start talking excitedly to Thor and Loki. Thor turned to Kim with a look of glee and shouted, "Come, Lady Kim, we are needed at Nidavellir!

 _ **Unwanted Gifts**_

Nova was putting together class notes when she heard a knock on the frame of her open door.

"Yori! Great to see you!" she got up and bowed in greeting to her former classmate. "I thought you were in Japan?"

Yori stepped up to her friend and wrapped her in a huge hug. Stepping back, she laughed, "Kim Possible told Hirotaka that a hug was the official greeting of Team Cobra. I believe that she was 'yanking his leash' but Wanda and Suzie said to play along."

Nova returned the laugh, "So now I am an honorary member of Team Cobra?

"Yes," she continued, "I hope to be nearby when Wanda next greets Ron when Kim is watching. She is planning on giving him much more than just a hug.

I am back because I got a message from Joss in England passed to Master Sensei using Rufus. It appears that Rufus imbued a ram with MMP in some sort of emergency and now the shepherd is expecting a bounty of new lambs in the spring. Joss got to thinking that Ron is living in a sorority and was concerned that Ron might be leaking MMP to his sorority sisters and that could be bad…"

NOPE had around 100 members and either she or Yori had briefly spoken to or at least looked into the eyes of nearly all of them over the last two days. Ron was due back anytime now from his BHS business and Nova feared that he would not be happy with their invasion of his privacy.

Bishop, the house AI, tracked Ron while he was inside the house and in the immediate area. It had provided a list of everyone that Ron had physical contact with since the AI was installed. They had all come up MMP-free. She was down to the last couple on her master list. Spotting one of her last targets, she pounced,

"Brita? Brita Martindell?" she called out to the young woman putting her breakfast dishes on a cart.

"Yes. Oh, hi, Dr. Ohlson," she replied, "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes, I'd like to ask you about Ron Stoppable," Nova said.

"Ron? Sure. Is something wrong?" replied Brita.

"No, not at all," Nova made a motion as if to push eyeglasses up her nose. She wasn't wearing glasses, but Brita's eyes followed the movement allowing Nova to clearly look into them. No trace of MMP sparkle in the pupils of her hazel eyes. "I'm just checking to see how you all feel about him being in this house," Nova said, seeing another girl coming over to join the conversation.

"Kind of strange to have him as a 'sister' if you know what I mean," Brita said, "He seems nice and he was making real breakfasts and dinners for us before classes started, you know, before our own cooks came to work for the semester. Someone said that he's not a guy, he's Ron. I guess that sort of makes sense. What I think of as stereotypical 'guy behavior' doesn't seem to apply to him."

"Have you noticed him touching anyone? Hugging? Either wanted or unwanted?" continued Nova.

"No, he keeps his hands to himself. I haven't even seen him try to flirt with anyone. Has someone complained?" asked Brita.

"Ron is a great guy!" bubbled the new girl. "Hi, I'm Rhianna Pimm. There were some guys hitting on me one afternoon and Ron came by and got me away from them."

"Did Ron hurt any of them?"

"No! He's pretty shy you know… well with people he doesn't know well." Rhi looked surprised by the question. "He just came by, played along with this magic trick I do, then thanked me, offered me his arm and walked me away from those jerks."

"You touched him?"

"Well, yeah. It was like in some old movie where the gentleman bends his arm and the girl grasps him by the crook of his elbow and they walk into some public place. Might have been a little over the top, but I really appreciated it since I was getting harassed at the moment. What's this about? Does Ron have measles or something? Is that why we haven't seen him at breakfast for the last couple of days?"

"No, no measles or anything like that. Ron's been away taking care of some private business. He should be back tonight." Again, Nova ran her finger up the bridge of her nose, giving her the chance to look into Rhi's eyes when they followed the motion of Nova's hand. Again, she saw no trace of the MMP "sparkle" in her pupils.

"Why the misdirection?" demanded Rhi.

"I beg your pardon?" said Nova.

"I am a magician and I know misdirection when I see it. That move where you push your finger up the bridge of your nose. You don't wear glasses and I saw you doing it while talking to Brita. That's a move you can do to draw someone's attention away from something."

"I needed to look in your eyes. I was looking for a little bluish sparkle in your pupils. Come to the NOPE house residents meeting tonight and I will explain why." answered Nova.

"I'm not a member yet, I can't attend those." replied Rhi.

"Brita, can you bring her? At least get her in the door? Bishop will vouch for the two of you."

"Sure, Dr. Ohlson, but what is this about?" said Brita.

"Come to the meeting and find out."

The normal NOPE Sunday night group study sessions were canceled and after dinner was done and cleaned up, the house was cleared of non-residents (except Brita and Rhi) and people gathered in the dining room.

Nova was unusually casually dressed in sneakers, sweatpants and a tee shirt. She introduced Yori as an expert on mystical powers and martial arts from a school in Japan. Before she stepped aside to give the floor over to Yori, she addressed the young women who mostly wore skeptical expressions. "I know this will sound like anime or fairy tales, but I assure you that this is real and that you are all safe here." She raised her voice "Bishop!"

"Yes professor Ohlson?" replied a computer voice.

"Lock down the house please," Nova commanded.

There were clicks all around them as doors shut and deadbolts latched.

Looking around she saw many faces that had suddenly turned worried. Nova sighed, "Bishop!"

"Yes, professor Ohlson?"

"Who in this room cannot command all the doors to unlock?" queried Nova.

"Of the thirty-three people present only Rhianna Pimm, Brita Martindell, and Yori-sensei do not have command authority over locks."

"Relax, ladies, it's not that I want to keep you here, I just don't want to be disturbed. What we talk about tonight is not for general knowledge. We would be fools to think that anything we tell thirty-one people could be kept a secret but think before you talk, this information has the potential to make NOPE a media circus. Yori-sensei is going to tell you more about Ron than he probably wants you to know. As Ron is not here, I do not have an oriental Mystical Monkey Powered person to demonstrate, so to prove that mystical warriors exist, I will demonstrate a mystical Norse warrior."

"Oh, one last thing, no Twitter, Instagram or pictures at all. Anyone who absolutely must have cell phone access during the next thirty minutes needs to leave now. Anyone?"

Seeing nobody respond, Nova called out "Bishop! Cell phones off please and thank you."

Throughout the room, all the cell phones briefly lit up, vibrated and then turned off.

Nova kicked off her sneakers and stripped off her tee shirt. "Oh, Ms. Pimm!" Nova said, "Please come up here in your capacity as a magician and look for any deception. I am going to transform into a wolf. Anywhere you want to stand, just please don't dawdle, it's chilly in here." Nova slipped off her sweatpants and was standing naked in front of a group that was rapidly becoming convinced that Dr. Ohlson had been partaking of recreational drugs.

Rhi ran up and pulling a piece of string out of her pocket, tied the string around Nova's right wrist and then stood about six feet behind Nova and a little off to the side.

"I'm ready," said Rhi.

Nova dissolved into a cloud of rainbow sparkles which reformed into a white wolf. A big wolf, one that was waist high at the shoulder standing next to Yori. A wolf with a piece of string around its right front leg.

Somebody screamed. Not a full horror movie scream, but a short scream of surprise with a little fear mixed in.

Yori laughed to show no fear was needed and knelt by the wolf who had rolled over onto its back. She reached out and scratched the wolf on its chest. "Ms. Pimm," Yori looked at the frozen magician, "Please come and verify that this is a real wolf and not a hologram or puppet."

Yori then saw the bravest thing that she had seen in a long time. Rhi walked over and knelt on the other side of the wolf. She held out her hand to the wolf and let it sniff her hand and give it a wet lick. Wiping the wolf slobber off on her jeans, she then put her ear to the wolf's chest. "I hear a heartbeat!" she announced. Taking her string off of the wolf, she stood up displaying the string and backed away.

Yori then addressed the crowd. "Dr. Ohlson is a shamanistic warrior of a very old Nordic tradition." Rolling her eyes, she continued, "She is also a bit of an exhibitionist. Ron is new to an ancient Oriental power. This power was used in rescuing his beloved Kim Possible from the aliens recently. I have a clip that I want you to see."

The big screen TVs came on showing Ron, wreathed in a blue glow, fighting hand to hand combat against Warhawk. The clip was fairly short.

"The alien that Ron was fighting considered Ron and Kim as animals to be hunted for sport. In that sequence you just saw, Ron was trying to subdue his opponent. Shortly after this clip, the alien declared his intent to kill Ron and Kim Possible then burn this world. I will not show any more of the fight. But, Kim and Ron killed the alien brutally. This fight is the source of the nightmares that he suffers."

Yori took a drink of water and started to continue when a voice called out,

"We have a killer living in this house?!"

Pavlina stood up and faced the angry young woman, "Have you not been listening? Ron and his love were being hunted like game animals, yet our braciszek did not kill until he had no choice. It was either kill this alien or let the alien kill them and burn this world. What would you have him do?"

"He could have reasoned with them!" came the angry reply.

Karli Eisenfaust stood up from her seat at the back, "Ms. Yori, who took this video?"

"The video was taken by an alien crew member tasked to record the alien's hunt for Kim and Ron," Yori replied.

"Would viewing the entire video give us more context into what happened?" asked the older woman.

"Yes, but the entire video contains very graphic and disturbing images of death. I would not recommend viewing it," Yori said.

Pavlina raised her voice, "Bishop!"

"Yes, Ms. Hinton."

"Unlock the door between the dining room and kitchen, please", the grad student commanded.

There was a click from the deadbolt on the door.

"Everyone who does not want to see the video please wait in the kitchen. We will come get you when it is over. I totally understand anyone that doesn't want to see violence, but I want to see the demons causing the nightmares in my braciszek." Pavlina declared.

No one moved.

Karli looked over her "girls" with a look of satisfaction. "Play the video, please."

Yori nodded and restarted the video from the beginning.

They heard Warmonga say that Kim's head with its red hair would look nice on their trophy wall.

They saw Warhawk swat Ron away like a fly, knocking both him and Kim to the ground.

They saw Ron's body light up with a blue fire and the fight between him and the much larger alien start.

They saw Warmonga pick up Kim by her graduation robes, Kim's escape and Kim grabbing a sword out of nowhere.

They saw a pause in the fight during which Warmonga tried to stab Warhawk, a brief exchange of words in an alien language and then they saw Warhawk brutally kill Warmonga and toss her dying body at Kim.

They heard Warhawk say, "You have taken the only thing I have ever loved from me. I will kill you, kill the girl slowly and then burn this world."

They heard the sound of screaming monkeys grow louder as Ron taunted the much larger alien, "So, Warhawk, what does a good battle slag do for a warrior? Or was she a battle skag? Battle whore?"

They saw the huge alien tremble with rage then scream and lunge into an attack then Yori stopped the video.

"There are things that cannot be unseen and the final seconds of this fight is one of them," Yori declared and then pleaded, "Please, let it be enough to know that Ron tore the alien's heart out with a bare hand and that Kim cleaved the alien's skull into two parts. Kim and Ron collapsed soon after and were carried to safety."

The white wolf rolled to its feet and wandered slowly between the table. Stopping by Mercedes, the small brunette flung her arms around its neck and sobbed into its soft fur. Nova had once told Ann Possible that her mind was more "Wolfy" when she was in wolf form and right now the wolf saw pups that were in distress, not her pups perhaps, but pups all the same. She wandered the tables, tolerating hugs, pets, and dispensing slobbery kisses where needed. After a few minutes, the room seemed to have calmed down enough to continue, so she padded back to Yori and laid down at her feet.

Yori started, "Ron was able to do this with the help of Mystical Monkey Power. This power originated in China centuries ago, then was thought to be lost and only recently rediscovered. Ron did not ask for it, did not want it, but accepted it to stop an insane villain that was trying to take his life and eventually conquer the world in an effort to rule it and its inhabitants in a ruthless manner.

Ron can gift a temporary charge of this power to others. He can do it quickly by concentrating on the recipient. I believe that he can share it unconsciously by close contact over time. We believe but cannot guarantee that 'close' means touching and we aren't sure how long it takes.

Once charged with this mystical power, you can explicitly draw on it to make you faster, stronger, and slightly quicker to heal as well as providing skills in the Kung Fu style known as _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_. But most importantly to the people in this room, just being charged with the power will interfere with and possibly disable your birth control."

Yori paused to let her last statement sink in. When no questions appeared, she continued, "I do not expect that Ron would ever charge any of you without great need and full disclosure. Dr. Ohlson and I are concerned that Ron is not yet sufficiently skilled in the containment of this power to avoid letting it seep out slowly over time onto you all, his sorority sisters."

Yori let the people in the room chatter amongst themselves for a minute.

"Now." she said loudly to get their attention, "I see two courses of action. First, we will teach you to recognize the build up of Mystical Monkey Power in each other. That way, there will be no surprises. Second, Dr. Ohlson will continue to teach Ron control of his power including the prevention of inadvertent transfer of it to others.

And we have this," Yori bent down and picked up a towel and unwrapped a large glass sphere the size of a softball with multi-colored dust in it.

Placing the sphere on a table she laid her hand on top and the dust swirled in rainbow patterns for a short time and then sank to the bottom. "This globe slowly drains off static electricity and mystical powers. I suggest that you place this globe by the front door and start a tradition of rubbing it for luck when you come in or out. That will prevent any Mystical Monkey Power from building up."

Yori pulled a star shaped steel object out of her back jeans pocket. It was larger than the palm of her hand and she started to roll it between her fingers like some people can do a coin.

"The second option," she said coldly, "would be to kick him out of this sorority and even drive him off this campus." Yori swept her gaze over the young women present. "That would be a mistake. You will never find a more loyal, protective, and kind brother. I treasure his friendship and would be inclined to hurt anyone who hurts him."

Yori heard a door slam shut behind her. With a yell, she whirled and shot out her arm. The metal star rocketed from her hand and embedded itself in the solid wooden door leading to the kitchen.

Ron had pulled Jessica out of the line of fire, shielding her with his body against follow on strikes. Both were carrying bowls of ice cream.

"Whoa! Sorry! Was this a private meeting?" Ron squeaked, one hand holding his ice cream, the other steadying Jessica. She was totally bewildered as to what just happened, standing there confused with wide eyes. Eyes with blue sparkles clearly shining in her pupils.

 _ **Invitation Made**_

Warhong waited patiently by the edge of the field discreetly watching by the corner of a building. Her two targets were in a field surrounded by people. As this was a training academy of some sort, she naturally assumed that the handful of older humans were teachers and the rest were students.

The druid sorcerer, called 'Dr. D' by the students, had sprayed green fluid on a tree which immediately sprouted twisting vines until it looked like some shaggy beast with snakes instead of fur. She saw him grow increasingly frustrated as he called commands to the plant-beast. Leaving the crowd with the plant-beast, the druid sorcerer and his Elementalist companion walked away, the sorcerer looking disappointed and frustrated.

Amazingly, the students walked to the plant-beast making her think she had stumbled on some strange human sacrifice ritual. Instead of being ripped apart and consumed, the plant-beast seemed to enjoy tactile contact and even lifted some of the students into the air.

As the two approached, she heard, "Shego, I don't know why plants only listen to me! I should be able to at least tell them to pay attention to others!"

"Drew, you've only been at this two weeks, be patient," replied the Elementalist.

Not wanting to alarm her targets, Warhong stepped away from the wall to draw attention to herself while the pair were still some distance away. The Elementalist stepped in front of the sorcerer and green fire surrounded her hands. Wishing her Commander had sent a diplomatic specialist instead of a combat specialist like her, Warhong sat down cross-legged on the ground trying to seem less threatening or at least shorter. She thought too late that she should have worn native style clothes, maybe jeans and a thin cotton shirt with a picture of a cartoon reptile like many of the young people she saw.

"Hello, my name is Warhong. I wish to invite you to talk about your recent adventure on a space ship."

"Do we have a choice?" growled the Elementalist.

"To be truthful, we do insist on a meeting. But it can be at a time and place of your choosing, as long as the time is in the next seven days and the place is on this continent. We also desire to have the rest of your strike team at the meeting."

"Strike team? What are you talking about?" the druid sorcerer had stepped out from behind his companion, agitated vines extending from his body.

"The team you fought the Lowardian Raiders with. Our initial information is that your team included two other strikers named Kimberly Possible and Rob Shippable."

"How do we contact you to set this up?" Shego asked.

"I will remain here with you. The Lowardian you call "WP" is under house arrest and I am to make sure he does not try to escape until the Commander rules on his case."

"What is the charge?" asked Drakken.

"Participation in a planetary raid. It typically carries a penalty of death. Be glad Commander Pakshok is the judge. He believes in a second chance, but not a third."

"You don't agree?" asked Shego.

"I have seen the aftermath of a planetary raid. Civilians slaughtered for no reason, homes burned, infrastructure reduced to rubble. The only reason that your WP was not executed on sight is that the raid failed so miserably that many of us figure that it wasn't really a raid at all."

 _ **Next Time on A PostGraduate Sitch**_

Brita opened the door, shouting down, "OK, we're ready! Ron, we need you."

Ron asked, "For what?"

"There has been a challenge of honor, you get to be the referee, remember?" was the reply.

Ron's eyes widened, "Really? On my way!" suiting actions to words, he got up and jogged to the stairs.

* * *

"Your partner Ron will make an excellent wife, look at how nurturing he is to his little sister!" declared Brokk.

"Hey! I can be nurturing too you know!" argued Kim.

"Indeed and I expect that Mjöllnir is a great help to putting the tiny wee babes to bed at night," snorted Sindri.

"I am more than just the hand that wields the hammer…" Kim said softly, hoping that it was really true.

* * *

Drakken cut her off by turning her around and desperately kissing her. After a minute, Shego pulled away saying, "Drew, you aren't going to lose me. I'm not going to lose you. Let me go get us a mystical monkey butt powered sidekick and the three of us will kick their ass off our planet if that is what it takes, OK?"


	6. End of a Day

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable editing on parts of this story. In addition, some of the dialog is theirs. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

Any appearance or mention of Wanda Wang and/or Suzie Chin are thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in his epic "Once Again" story arc.

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **Nidavellir**_

Previously…

"Yes!" Heimdallr roared with delight. "Odin gathers the mightiest warriors at his side because he knows that Fenrir the mighty wolf is going to murder him at the end. Not that he hopes to defeat Fenrir, but wants to die in a blaze of glory!" Seeing that Kim wasn't understanding, he continued, "Fenrir hasn't even been born yet! Until I saw you, I believed that our fates are already decided and the best we could do is to die fighting with a battle cry in our hearts and a smile on our lips!"

Kim was considering his words when she noticed an unarmored man run out the gate and start talking excitedly to Thor and Loki. Thor turned to Kim with a look of glee and shouted, "Come, Lady Kim, we are needed at Nidavellir!

* * *

The Bifrost dropped them into a middle of an underground passageway. The passageway was wide enough to make a two lane road with a high ceiling. It was made of smooth and polished stones and lit, not by torches, but with shining gems set into the wall with gold settings. A gentle breeze of fresh air softly blew from grates in the ceiling. Sounds of off-key singing came from one direction. Thor and Loki, axe and flaming sword in hand raced down the corridor with Kim in hot pursuit, hammer in hand and armor forming on her body as she ran.

"What's the sitch!" Kim called out to her companions.

Loki put his hand on his brother's shoulder and brought him to a walk. "Brother," he said, "I believe that Lady Kim is asking about the plan. We should have one."

Thor thought hard for a second then replied "Plan? I figured that we win the contest and then drag ourselves back home. Assuming that one of us is still standing at the end. Because, as valiant as Lady Kim is, she is not tall enough to carry both of us back without dragging parts of us on the ground."

"A contest? What kind of contest?" Kim asked.

"Mead drinking," Loki replied This is part of my effort to settle disputes with negotiation instead of battle." Seeing Kim's look of disbelief, he continued, "Once step at a time, my Lady, one step at a time. Plus, they have a new style of mead for us to try called "Skotsk".

"What about logic and reasoning?" Kim demanded, stopping and refusing to move forward. "What about both sides presenting their complaints and requirements so that both can compromise and find an acceptable course of action."

"That sounds rather difficult and time-consuming," Thor informed her. "While we would reason and argue, other enemies could be moving on Asgard. We must deal with this threat so that we can quickly return to our home and defend it!"

"Oh, and how long will it take for you to sleep off the drunk or recover from the hangover?" Kim's hands found their way to her hips. She felt like she did when she was just sixteen and had caught her brothers preparing to modify the neighbor's cat.

"Lady Kim," Loki addressed her, his voice one of pure reason and honesty. "Traditionally, such negotiations take place after a battle so bloody that neither side wishes to participate in another one. While I agree that your suggestion has a certain merit, we cannot throw away millennia of tradition overnight."

"But drinking mead?" She couldn't keep the disbelief from her voice. "Mead is so sickeningly sweet, I don't see how you can drink it without gagging. Are you sure that this isn't just a big excuse, from both sides, to guzzle mead until everyone is falling over?"

"Well, the thought has a certain appeal," Thor admitted, scraping one foot on the stone floor like a chastised schoolboy. "What do you suggest we drink instead?", Thor asked, trying to change the subject.

"I don't know! I don't drink alcoholic beverages. Dad likes beer, but he doesn't drink to excess." Kim retorted.

"Doesn't drink to excess? Don't see the point of drinking then," muttered Thor under his breath.

"What's next?" She glared at them both. "Farting contests?

"Of course not!" Thor's voice was now all offended dignity.

"At least there's some sanity in this world," Kim sighed.

"The dwarf's chili would give them an unbeatable advantage in any such contest. The yellow apples we eat render us powerless in the needed capability," explained Thor.

"Forget I said anything," she grumbled. "Lead on. Maybe I can prevent this from turning into a complete disaster."

As they came to a cross corridor, Mjöllnir pulled her left. "That's strange, my hammer wants to go this way," she observed."

"Perhaps you should go investigate. The dwarves are generally friendly, but perhaps your assistance is needed," replied Loki.

"In the meantime, we will be fine, don't worry about us," said Thor, eager to be on his way without their 'Midgardian babysitter' in tow.

"See you in a bit then," Kim fled down the corridor happy to have gotten out of a night of heavy drinking even if they thought they were honoring her by bringing her along. Kim then thought to herself, ' _Those_ _ **idiots**_ _actually think I want to get drunk and stupid with them? They gotta learn to get a clue.'_

In about a minute, the corridor opened up into a vast work area. Two huge dark-skinned creatures wearing boots, leather pants, and heavy leather aprons were working next to an open forge. Turning to look at her, she got a better look at them. Not men, but they were as tall as Thor and more heavily muscled. Certainly not as handsome as Asgardians, their rough features didn't look all that friendly at the moment.

"It's Mjöllnir!" cried the first one, his rough face breaking into a friendly smile, "It's come to visit!"

"Don't be an idiot, it's not that smart. But I see it found someone better than those stupid Asgardians to wield it. Welcome. I am Sindri and this is my brother Brokk. We are the dwarves that made the hammer you carry."

'Whoa,' thought Kim, 'Am I the shortest person in these realms?' She spoke, "I am Kim Possible from Midgard. I am pleased to meet you." Not knowing the proper custom, she made a polite Japanese style bow, one that you would make to a Sensei. Apparently, it was acceptable because both dwarves smiled and returned the bow. "You certainly made a truly amazing hammer. Would it be rude of me to ask what you are making now?"

Sindri beamed with pleasure at her praise and replied "Heimdallr has given us a prediction that we will need to make a chain stronger than any chain that has been made before," he held up six coils of what looked like pieces of different colored yarn. "These are crafted out of special materials." One at a time, he held up a coil of yarn and said,

"The black one is made with the sound of a cat's footfall."  
"The red one is made with the beard of a woman."  
"The blue one is made with the roots of a mountain."  
"The white one is made with the sinews of a bear."  
"The green one is made with the breath of a fish."  
"The yellow one is made with the spittle of a bird."

"To make the chain we have to combine these materials. We are thinking of using the forge and hammering them together to make thin layers of a thicker rod we will use to make the chain links," said Brokk.

"Do they have to be bound together on a molecular level?" asked Kim as an idea formed in her mind.

"No, once placed into contact, they will slowly fuse. But it will look better if pounded into thin layers," said Brokk, "sort of like Damascus Steel. We are working on a method for holding the strands together while we work on them."

"Besides we are dwarves. We like fire and hammering things," pointed out Sindri. "And this is not the normal fire that you are used to. We once reshaped a hog's skin in these flames."

"Could I try something? Can I have about the length of my arm of each one?" asked Kim.

"Be our guest, these are test strands we are experimenting with. Take as much as you want," answered Sindri.

Kim remembered Ron coming back from Camp Wannaweep all those years ago. The one thing he learned was making a dozen styles of friendship bracelets. He had apparently swapped his swimming period with another boy to get double arts and crafts. The simple braid style he showed her would be quick to do.

She used her hammer and a sharp edge of their anvil to cut six pieces of the yarn, each piece a little longer than the length of her arm. She then took the six pieces, tied a knot at one end, and then laid her hammer on that end to hold it down. Working slowly and carefully at first, then picking up speed with practice, she did a simple three strand weave, using a pair of colors for each strand.

Holding it out to show Brokk and Sindri, she said "Will this hold the strands together for whatever you need to do to them?"

Brokk took the woven strands and examined them. "Very precisely done, Kim Possible. May we try something?" he asked.

"Sure," Kim replied.

Brokk handed them to Sindri and they walked over to the forge. Holding the bracelet in the fire with tongs while Brokk worked the bellows, Sindri then put the white-hot bracelet on the anvil where he pounded it with a hammer, generating more sparks than Kim would have thought possible from such a small object. He dropped the glowing red-hot bracelet into a bucket of water.

When it had cooled, Brokk wiped it off with a cloth and handed it back to Kim. She was surprised to see that the knots and the unwoven parts had been burned away, the strands in the woven section were fused together with the individual strands still clearly visible. The woven section was soft but now very smooth with the colors of each strand glowing in the light with a metallic sheen.

"Try to cut it," smiled Sindri.

Kim laid the end of it on the sharp edge of the anvil and hit it with her hammer. The material was untouched, showing no sign of a cut or even a dent.

"This will be faster and more uniform than forging and folding layers together," said Brokk, "Thank you Kim Possible for showing this to us."

"We will have to find some women to come and do the weaving," pondered Sindri.

"It's not hard to learn, my partner taught me in just a few minutes when he was a young boy," said Kim. "These are used to show the friendship between young people on Midgard. You make ones that match and you each wear one around your wrist. I can teach you."

"Ah, it's magic then. Are you and your partner not still friends? Why do you not wear one?" ask Sindri.

"I guess ours wore out and we never replaced them," replied Kim thinking that she really should wear a ring or something signifying her connection to Ron. "It's not really magic, there is no spell or anything like that in the weave, just affection."

"Your partner is a man? No real man weaves," said a disbelieving Brokk.

"My partner," growled Kim, "Ron Stoppable, is a real man and he does many things including weaving these little bracelets and ripping the hearts of his enemies out of their chest with his bare hand."

"I apologize for my hasty and ill-considered speech, Kim Possible. Men of Midgard must be different than men of Asgard," Brokk said, "Men of Asgard are very concerned with "manliness". That means that no man of Asgard would ever do womanly things like weaving, performing magic, being penetrated during sex or bearing children."

"What?" Kim was flummoxed.

"Take Loki for example." Brokk explained, "Once he played a prank where he took the form of a mare to distract somebody's stallion. The stallion mounted him and then later he bore a gray foal with eight legs, the horse Sleipnir. To the best of my knowledge, Loki has never woven anything, but still, if he were not a god, he would be cast out as Ergi"

"Loki has a child that is a horse. He gave birth to…" Kim tried to wrap her mind around the concept as she wondered if Eir had brain soap back in Asgard.

"A foal. Yes, Sleipnir's now Odin's favorite steed as I understand," said Brokk.

"Ergi?" asked Kim, still trying to catch up.

"Someone who is unmanly or has the characteristics of a woman. It is such a grave insult that to call someone 'ergi' often results in a challenge to the death," said Sindri.

"Tell us about your partner, Kim Possible. I would like to hear about a true man that weaves. First, let me get us some refreshments," said Brokk.

Clearing off a worktable, he went to a cupboard where he pulled out bowls, spoons, and mugs, placing them on the table. Taking a pitcher, he walked over to a tiny waterfall at one side of the room and brought it back filled with icy cold water. Going to the forge, he brought back a large Dutch oven and placed that on the worktable. All while Sindri pulled over three chairs. Seeing that Kim's feet did not reach the ground while sitting in the chair, he courteously scooted her up to the table. Finally, Brokk got hot biscuits out of a chamber on the side of the forge, setting them and a dish with butter on the table.

The chili was heavy on beans and root vegetables, spicy without being fiery. With cold water, butter, and biscuits, it made a fine lunch. The company was pleasant and at the end of the meal, Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator and played her hosts the videos showing her and Hana playing Skeeball and dancing with Ron.

"Your partner Ron will make an excellent wife, look at how nurturing he is to his little sister!" declared Brokk.

"Hey! I can be nurturing too, you know!" argued Kim.

"Indeed, and I expect that Mjöllnir is a great help to putting the tiny wee babes to bed at night," snorted Sindri with a raised eyebrow.

"I am more than just the hand that wields the hammer…" Kim said softly, hoping that it was really true.

"Midgard is a strange place, Kim Possible. Men dance and play with little girls and women fight their foes."

Kim scrolled through the files on her Kimmunicator. There was a file that Wade had copied, a file that she was supposed to share with her GJ therapist. A therapist she had never gotten around to making an appointment to see. A file she had never seen and never wanted to see. She moved the cursor to "battle video from Drakken" and tapped 'play'.

Turning the Kimmunicator around so her hosts could see it, she asked, "Is there somewhere I could relieve myself and wash up a bit?"

Brokk pointed to a door at the side of the room.

Sliding down from the chair, she said, "Midgard is a place where men and women both can play with little girls, weave friendship bracelets, and fight foes." As she walked to the bathroom, she heard Warmonga's voice say "Perhaps the girl child's head would look good mounted on the trophy wall. The red hair will be a nice touch." The room grew hot and airless as she fled to the bathroom in a near panic.

After entering the bathroom, it took her several minutes to recover from the panic attack. After getting physically relieved, Kim reached up to the sink, washed her hands and splashed water on her face. No towels but a couple of warm air jets coming from the wall managed to dry her off.

Walking back to her hosts, she placed the Kimmunicator back in a pouch, saying, "I have really enjoyed meeting you both and that was an amazing lunch. I should go find Thor and Loki and see what trouble they have gotten into.

Sindri answered, "Fear not for your companions if they found trouble we would have heard the fighting from here."

Brokk said, "Your partner looks like an interesting man. He fights like a mighty Asgard warrior, attacking with the fury and a grim smile in the face of certain death. But he plays with little girls and we saw the glow of magic about him. Perhaps on Midgard manliness and femininity aren't separate, but two sides of a coin."

"Well, my partner's creed is 'never be normal'" answered Kim.

"Would you like two bracelets, one for you and one for your partner?"

"What would I owe you for these bracelets?" asked Kim.

"In the past, we took a certain favor from Freya, in exchange for a necklace," Sindri told her. "and now I believe we made a poor bargain. But I believe that such a favor is something that means something different to your culture."

"Besides, you showed us a new fabrication technique," Brokk told her. "We consider ourselves already paid and more. In fact, we would be pleased to have you and Ron Stoppable wear a trinket that we made."

"If you will weave two for us, then we will add magic to them for you." said Sindri.

"What kind of magic?" Kim said suspiciously.

"I noticed that your arms shrink in size when you haven't touched the hammer in a while. I can make them where they will change in size. While they aren't big enough to make a good weapon, I can also make them come when you call like Mjöllnir does."

"Deal!" exclaimed Kim. She was delighted. There wasn't much in the way of gift shops in this place. Even though it was a teeny bit juvenile, she knew he would get a kick out of them having matching friendship bracelets made in the forges of the dwarves that made tools and weapons for the gods.

Kim set to work weaving four friendship bracelets, all identical except in length. The ones for her and Ron she made long enough for a human adult and the ones for the dwarves, she made four times as long. While she worked, she talked about the missions that she and Ron had done and the dwarves talked about the items they made and the gods they had dealt with.

When Kim presented the woven bracelets to Sindri, he was surprised. "Kim Possible," he said, "These all have the identical weave and order of colors in the pattern. I thought that you only gave friends the identical pattern."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I was thinking of you and Brokk as friends. I can redo it if you want," said Kim.

"No. I like it as they are. I think it will be good to have two friends from Midgard." Sindri's voice sounded a little husky. Walking over to a cabinet, he took out two folded cloths. Unfolding the first one, he said, "A hair from a special monkey will make it an object that chooses." He carefully selected a hair from the cloth and slipped it into the weave on each piece. Using the second cloth, he said, "This boar's whisker will make sure you are never lost in the dark" and repeated his actions. Carefully refolding the cloths and putting them away, he walked over to Kim and plucked a single hair from her head.

"Ow! What is that going to do?" asked Kim rubbing her head.

"I have no idea, but I trust it will be something interesting," answered Sindri. Breaking it into four pieces, he inserted each piece into one of the woven strips. Moving to the forge, he worked the strips one at a time, heating them to a brightly glowing white, hammering each in a shower of sparks, and finally dropping the red hot strip into a pot of oil to cool.

Sindri bowed and handed the two shorter bracelets to Kim, saying formally "We would be pleased and honored if you and your partner wore these as tokens of friendship for each other and to us. I believe that they are unbreakable and indestructible. With the the monkey hair in the weave and the quench in Meteor oil that I gave them, you should be able to command them like you can command Mjöllnir.

"Thank you very much," Kim replied taking the bracelets. "Ron will love having a gift made in your forges. I love that I was able to help a little in making it."

"We enjoyed your visit Kim Possible. Come, we will make sure you find the Bifrost," said Sindri.

Concentrating on the bracelets, they flew to her wrist, wrapping loosely around it with the two ends joining to make an invisible seam.

Soon the rainbow portal opened in front of her. As she waved and stepped through, she heard Brokk say, "Come again, and if you can, bring your partner."

Stepping out of the portal and walking down the Bifrost, Kim waved a greeting to Heimdallr who called out, "Lady Kim, I thought I would have to send out searchers. Thor and Loki staggered back drunk an hour ago. Thor was going on about you telling him to switch to beer and asked me to look up a supplier for him," the pale god laughed, "Come, tell me of your adventures!"

 _ **Busted**_

Previously…

"The second option," Yori said coldly, "would be to kick Stoppable-san out of this sorority and even drive him off this campus." She swept her gaze over the young women present. "That would be a mistake. You will never find a more loyal, protective, and kind brother. I treasure his friendship and would be inclined to hurt anyone who hurts him."

Yori heard a door slam shut behind her. With a yell, she whirled and shot out her arm. The metal star rocketed from her hand and embedded itself in the solid wooden door leading to the kitchen.

Ron had pulled Jessica out of the line of fire, shielding her with his body against follow on strikes. Both were carrying bowls of ice cream.

"Whoa! Sorry! Was this a private meeting?" Ron squeaked, one hand holding his ice cream, the other steadying Jessica. She was totally bewildered as to what just happened, standing there confused with wide eyes. Eyes with blue sparkles clearly shining in her pupils.

* * *

"Ron," said Nova, having changed back to human form, she was pulling on clothes, and nodded at the bowl of ice cream in his hand, "Did you bring enough for everyone?" She had seen anger replacing surprise in his eyes and suspected that he had heard Yori say that she would be inclined to hurt anyone that hurt Ron. She was hoping he would take the hint and take time to think before acting rashly. Nova padded barefoot over to Jessica and guided the still confused young woman to a place at a table.

"Uh, no, but I can fix that. Be right back," replied Ron, heading back into the kitchen. Ron wasn't the quickest for figuring things out but did catch that Nova wanted him to step out of the room for a bit.

"Yori, would you assist him, please?" asked Nova, trying to get the two together to talk.

"Hai, Ohlson-sensei," replied Yori, stalking off after Ron, clearly ready for a fight.

"What the hell was that all about?" asked an angry Karli, checking Jessica over for physical damage.

"Let's wait for Ron and Yori to come back to see what they have to say."

"But she threw that star at Ron and Jessica! It looked dangerous! What was she thinking?" Karli was struggling not to shout.

"Oh, that. That was just a test to make sure Ron was paying attention. It wasn't nearly as dangerous as it looked, really," lied Nova who wondered what exactly had gotten into the Japanese woman.

By this time, Jessica was surrounded by her sorority sisters all offering sympathy, comfort, and outrage. She was coming to the realization that the young Japanese woman had attacked them. The woman looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't remember where she might have seen her…

Nova called the rest over saying, "Everybody, come take a look at Jessica's eyes. The blue sparkles are from the MMP. If she was pulling consciously from the power, her eyes would be light blue, although it's hard to tell since they are light blue normally," Nova motioned for the others to look. Mercedes produced a compact with a mirror so Jessica could see what everyone else saw."

"Jess, why did Ron charge you with this power stuff? Were you guys on a mission?" Mercedes asked?

"I… I… I can't talk about it, it was a confidential mission to help someone," Jessica was quickly gathering her wits and the 'mission' actually was confidential. But she wanted to talk to Ron about "this power stuff" before she talked to anyone about anything. Her first question to Ron was going to be why this was the first time she had heard about it…

Nova handed the globe to Jessica. As soon as she held it in her hand, it lit up with a swirling array of brightly shining rainbow colored clouds and lightning. The display continued for several minutes while the blue sparkles in her eyes slowly faded to black.

The globe was quite warm when the dust settled to the bottom. Nova took the globe from Jessica, saying to the group, "I think that was a pretty heavy charge of MMP, any accidental charge you pick up should be much lighter. Just watch out for each other and remember to touch the globe every day or so."

"MMP?" asked Jessica.

Mercedes started giving her a rundown of the meeting so far…

* * *

"Yori, what's your problem?" Ron asked as he pulled a cart over to a freezer.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you are referring to." was the icy reply.

"Yori, please don't do this to me. It's me, 'Stoppable-san' remember? I'm the one with the 'American-style joking', the 'American-style buffoonery', and the 'American-style of misunderstanding of girls'. I'm still all that. So, please Yori, tell me straight up. Why the threats to my sisters? Why did you nearly shave off my scruffy attempt at a beard with a shuriken?"

Yori stepped up to Ron and gently stroked his cheek. "I think the scruffy look works well on you. Has Kim-san seen it?"

"Not yet, I started it after she left for China. Yori, talk to me. You are one of the few people I consider a real friend. If I have offended you, please tell me what I did and how I can make amends."

"Stoppable-san, you are wrong when you say that you are 'still all that'. Maybe I will allow the 'misunderstanding of girls', but I am not even sure of that one," Yori said, letting her hand drop from his face. "You are not the boy I met that day long ago, The boy who was trying to put a brave face on being thrust into a strange society of ninja and mystical weapons. You were exotic, cute and you made me laugh. I admit I once had a crush on you. Had I known then the strong protector that you would quickly grow into, I fear I would have challenged destiny itself to pursue you. But that is water long passed under a bridge. I told you once that Sensei teaches that change is a part of life, and leads to growth, wisdom, and happiness. I once told Kim-san that I believed that you were her destiny. I believe those things are all still true."

Yori took a breath and fire came back in her eyes. "Over the last two days, I have spoken briefly to nearly half of the people in your sorority. None of them spoke of you with the proper respect. The ones with anything to say mentioned that you seemed polite, courteous and was a good cook." Yori's eyes narrowed, "At best they spoke of you as one of the hired help, not as a respected fellow member of their society. Their lack of respect plus your acceptance of their lack or respect is what has my 'panties in a twist'. It also does not help that Kim-san is running around being a tourist on the other side of the world instead of being here to watch your back."

Yori took a cleansing breath which seemed to help a little. "I admit that my threatening those undeserving fools might have been 'over the top' as you say. But it was an attempt to get you a little of the respect that I feel you are due, then when you came in, I realized that you were going to stop me and I am ashamed to say that I was overtaken by anger. That is not how I was taught to react and I should not have thrown the shuriken at you."

Ron stepped forward and hugged the lithe kunoichi. "That's OK Yori, you didn't try that hard to hit me 'cause I was able to dodge it." Loosening his hold, he added, "Uh, don't hurt me, Rufus says this is the new Team Cobra greeting."

Yori made a muffled snort and pulled away. "It was not my fastest throw. But you did manage to protect both the girl and your ice cream, so I give you credit for fast reflexes. I agree that even on another continent, Rufus-sensei is the master of Yamanouchi gossip." Yori gave a small smile.

"Yori, it's not like I did anything to earn these people's respect. No, wait, listen to me," Ron interrupted her as she started to protest, "I didn't fly the Kepler up to rescue Kim, that was Shego. I didn't eject the space ship's power generation core, that was Rufus. I didn't bring down the space ship, that was the A-10 pilots. All I can claim is that I distracted Warhawk at the end to make sure that KP survived. And that is enough for me. Heck, KP prevented me from being hit with his dagger and then had to pull Warhawk's body off of me. Without her, I would not have survived the fight."

Yori looked into Ron's soft brown eyes saying, "Stoppable-san, you are an idiot."

"See? I'm still the same Stoppable-san. So, are we good? No hurting my sisters, right?"

"I will not attack your sorority sisters without direct provocation." Yori wanted to bring up other times like the time he dropped everything to help her track down a missing Sensei but thought the best strategy now was to stop arguing. She hoped that since he had apparently claimed these people as 'his sisters' that they would learn to respect him.

For some reason, Yori's answer seemed like a trick answer to Ron. Letting that go, he said, "OK, let's get my sisters some ice cream before they come looking for us, Grab some bowls from that cabinet, please…" Ron replied, opening the big freezer.

Yori pulled over another cart and started loading bowls and silverware on it.

* * *

The kitchen door bumped open and Ron and Yori came in pushing a cart loaded with cartons containing ice cream, yogurt, fruit, and other toppings along with bowls and silverware. Several residents came over and moved the cartons to tables for easier access.

"You didn't even try to come to an understanding with that alien. You taunted him causing him to attack!" Carlynn Brand might have considered Ron a killer, but that didn't stop her from getting in his face.

"No, I didn't." Ron admitted, "I would like to be able to tell you that I calmly performed an analysis of alternatives. But I didn't. He was stronger than I was, tougher than I was, and had just killed his battle mate. He told me that he was going to make Kim a trophy on a wall, kill me and burn the world. My only plan, if you can call it a plan, was to incite him to make a reckless attack and hope I could kill him with a single blow before he killed me. I did not expect to survive his attack. But here I am, sometimes good luck happens to even the worst of us."

Ron looked around at his "sisters", for now at least, dishing up ice cream and pretending not to listen to the heated exchange. He announced "If you all want me out, then I will leave without a fuss. And Yori misspoke. She will not hurt anyone here no matter what you decide."

"That is correct," declared Yori through gritted teeth, "I will not seek vengeance for any cruelties or injustices that you inflict on Stoppable-san."

Ron sighed, figuring that was as good as he was going to get from Yori. "Just let me know what you all decide," Ron turned to leave with Nova and Yori following him.

Ayalisse Dennis, membership chair, stood up. As soon as the door to the kitchen shut, she said, "Are you ready to vote or do I hear a motion to open discussion…"

Ron wandered down the stairs into his lair, throwing himself on the bed.

"I'm sorry Ron," said Nova, "I thought we needed to make sure that you weren't putting your friends at risk for unintended pregnancy in case just being around you accidentally imbued them with MMP. Turns out that only Jessica showed any traces of it."

"Why would you even think that?" asked Ron.

"Your friend Monique became imbued with MMP and she slept alongside you and Rufus on Nana-Sensei's RV," said Yori.

"You knew this and didn't tell me?" Ron asked.

"Kim had asked me to check on Monique. I did and found she had a small residual charge. I am sorry I did not report that back to you or Kim. I have no excuse for my failure," said Yori.

Ron took a deep breath. "That's OK, Yori. No harm, no foul, I guess. It's been a hell of a summer."

Ron stared blankly at the ceiling. "So, now I'm 'not a guy' I'm just 'Ron the fertility leper'. What else did you tell them? Besides saying you would personally rain ninja hellfire down on them if they hurt me?"

Nova and Yori apologized again and had just finished recounting the meeting when the door to the kitchen opened and Mercedes came down the stairs.

"The vote was unanimous that you stay in the house, Ron. Rhi told people how you got her away from some guys who were hitting on her without any threat of violence and Jessica found a news report of how you and Kim foiled an armed bank robbery with only minor injuries to the robbers."

Mercedes added, "Carlynn Brand thinks you are a testosterone soaked caveman, but when pressed, she admits that you have done nothing except the fight with the alien to suggest that you are not suitable for NOPE membership. All the other residents agree that the fight with the alien was a terrible thing for you to be forced to do, but that it was not your fault. She and her roomie have asked to be switched to the dorms, so we are going to switch them with Brita and Rhi. Rhi had already applied and was pending approval at a membership meeting."

Pulling a bottle of water out of Ron's little fridge, she asked, "So, can you guys fill me in a little more on this MMP stuff? Is Jess in danger of being pregnant?"

"She still needs to have intercourse with a guy to manage that," Yori answered. "Ron, when did you charge Jessica and why didn't you tell her about it first?" she asked.

"I didn't mean to charge her. I think it must have been this time I was, uh, meditating while she was touching me," Ron speculated.

"For how long?" asked Nova.

"Maybe ten minutes?" Ron answered, "Let's just say that it was very intense meditation and ask no further questions, OK? That experiment will NOT be repeated."

Mercedes continued, "OK then, moving on. Dr. Ohlson, there are several girls who are going to hit you up for permission to transfer into Ron's MMP Theory and Practice class. They want to learn how to use it assuming that Ron will give them a charge on purpose…"

Brita opened the door, shouting down, "OK, we're ready! Ron, we need you."

Ron asked, "For what?"

"There has been a challenge of honor, you get to be the referee, remember?" was the reply.

Ron's eyes widened, "Really? On my way!" suiting actions to words, he got up and jogged to the stairs.

Nova and Yori looked at Mercedes expecting an explanation.

"There were some pretty bitter things said at the meeting," Mercedes told them, "As per NOPE tradition, the matter will be settled with a bit of non-violent violence" and she walked after Ron with Nova and Yori following.

They soon arrived in the main entrance area of the house. This part of the house was large and had a high ceiling. It was designed to let the residents make a grand entrance coming down the stairs. At the moment, the chairs and small side tables usually present were all moved to one end, the curtains were all tightly drawn and the center of the floor was covered in mattresses. Standing on one side was Rhianna and Jessica. On the other was Carlynn and her roommate, Corie. All were holding pillows and wearing bathrobes.

Most of the residents were using the stairs as bleachers. The rest were scattered around the edge of the mattresses.

Ron was in the center reading from a sheet of paper. "Before we start, I must ask if the arguing parties can settle this without resorting to a contest of honor." Ron looked at both groups who just glared at each other. Ron lowered the paper and softly asked, "May I ask what the dispute is about?"

"Carlynn and Corie said that we were idiots infatuated with a pretty face and a hot body and couldn't see the so-called truth they claimed in the meeting!" said Rhianna.

Ron looked at the other pair.

"We admitted that having you in the house fell within acceptable bounds of risk.", said Carlynn, "But we still claim that your presence endangers the house at least a small amount, both in safety and in the level of morality of this sisterhood. I admit that we did get overly enthusiastic in our arguments perhaps and we may have said things we regret, but we do not regret calling those two 'star struck bimbos'."

Ron sighed as Rhianna audibly growled. He raised the paper and continued reading, "This is a last person standing contest of honor using only naked pillow fighting. No grabbing, grappling or flesh on flesh hitting is allowed. The only weapons allowed are pillows and the pillows must remain naked at all times."

Ron looked up, "What? Naked pillows? You mean that…"

Mercedes cut through the general laughter, saying "Ron! You lech! You actually thought that the girls were going to be naked?! Really?!"

Ron rubbed the back of his neck, blushing, "Well, I guess I thought it was like in the movies…"

"See!" shouted Carlynn, "I told you he was a typical testosterone soaked horndog!"

"Take that back! Ron's not like that at all!" Rhianna shouted back while taking a step forward. "Wait! It's the pillows that are naked? Uh, I need to borrow some pajamas…" A blushing Jessica touched her on the shoulder and both girls ran up the stairs.

"NOPE tradition is to play a prank on the first-year residents, Ron, Jessica, and Rhianna are the only ones we hadn't gotten yet," Mercedes whispered to Nova and Yori. "It says a lot about Ron that Jessica and Rhianna were willing to embarrass themselves in public to defend his honor."

Jessica and Rhianna came down the stairs wearing tee shirts and gym shorts. They faced off against the other two who were similarly dressed once they shed their bathrobes. Ron held out his hand between them and seeing the intensity of the combatants, pulled on the blue, charging himself with MMP. Dropping his hand, he said "Hajime!" and backed up.

Jessica soon had Carlynn backing up under an onslaught of pillow pummeling. Ron had to call a halt when Carlynn was about to be driven off of the mattresses and moved the pair back towards the center.

He was back on watch just in time to see Corie hook Rhianna's ankle while delivering a solid pillow hit to her body, tripping her. Ron stopped Corie in the middle of delivering an overhand swing and was about to call a foul when Rhi, with a battle cry, tackled Corie around the waist, driving her well off the edge of the mattresses.

For a brief instant, Ron was about to grab them, but as they were wearing cotton tees and not, say the heavier fabric of a Judo Gi, he realized that he would end up holding a scrap of fabric and they would have still hit the floor. Probably minus a big chunk of tee-shirt. Instead, assisted by the MMP, he managed to get in front and under the two young women, preventing them from landing on the hardwood floor by having them land on him.

He looked back on the mattresses just in time to see Jessica flip Carlynn off her feet with a pillow sweep to the ankles followed by an overhead pillow pummel to her fallen foe's midsection. Jessica raised her pillow over her head with a whoop of victory.

Mercedes helped Rhi and Corie off of Ron, Ron thought he might have gotten an unnecessary elbow in the gut from Corie, but he had gotten worse playing football. Mercedes then asked the contestants, "Is honor satisfied?" After getting two quick replies of "yes" and two grudging replies of "yes", she declared, "The contest of honor is complete. Now it's time for the _Feast of the Fresh Churros of Eternal Sisterhood_!"

Turning to Ron in the middle of general cheering and laughing, she said, "So, Ron. You know how to make churros, right?"

"Well, yes. You are just making this stuff up as you go along, right?" asked Ron.

"No! These are sacred traditions that go back… well, they go back a long time. Trust me." answered Mercedes.

As some people started resetting furniture and putting away mattresses, everyone else trooped back into the dining room. Ron found himself walking next to Jessica. He gave her a little shoulder bump and quietly cheered "Go Mad Dogs! Go, Go, Go Mad Dogs!". He was rewarded with the flash of a grin in response.

Later, while Ron was pulling the last batch of churros out of the fryolator, Jessica wandered over with an empty tray.

"Did you know about the naked pillow part or were you really expecting to see us naked?" Jessica asked.

"I kind of suspected it was a setup when Rhi said the others were claiming that you two were infatuated with a "hot body and pretty face". I knew that no one would say that about me," Ron answered, looking directly at her with a sly grin and continued "Not that I wasn't hoping, a little. I mean really, I am enough of a guy that if it just so happened that the hottest babe on campus was suddenly naked and fighting with pillows in front of me, I wouldn't have turned away."

"A real gentleman wouldn't have looked," teased Jessica.

"I'm not a gentleman, I'm a Ron." Ron loaded her tray with fresh churros.

"Thanks, Ron," Jessica said grinning as she took the tray and turned to head to the dining room. "You're sweet, yah know.

'Yeah, I'm a real sweetie, I just hope the guys on campus never hear of this,' Ron grumped to himself turning off the fryolator, grabbing the remaining small bowls of melted chocolate and heading to the dining room to join the Feast of the Fresh Churros of Eternal Sisterhood.

 _ **Invitation Accepted**_

Previously:

"I will remain here with you." said the six-foot, ten-inch tall battle-suited Lowardian woman, "The Lowardian you call "WP" is under house arrest and I am to make sure he does not try to escape until the Commander rules on his case."

"What is the charge?" asked Drakken.

"Participation in a planetary raid. It typically carries a penalty of death. Be glad Commander Pakshok is the judge. He believes in a second chance, but not a third."

"You don't agree?" asked Shego.

"I have seen the aftermath of a planetary raid. Civilians slaughtered for no reason, homes burned, infrastructure reduced to rubble. The only reason that your WP was not executed on sight is that the raid failed so miserably that many of us figure that it wasn't really a raid at all."

* * *

Warhong stood up, unfolding to her full intimidating height. "Are you done with your duties here for today?"

"Yes, we were about to go home," said Drakken.

"Good. Let's go to your residence to talk more, my partner Warlanse is out purchasing supplies with WP. WP has suggested that we would all enjoy grilling meat with sides of vegetables," said Warhong.

"Great! Aliens just invited themselves to dinner with us picking up the tab," Shego quietly snarked to Drakken.

"Not at all," said Warhong showing that she or her battle suit had excellent hearing. She pulled out a pre-paid credit card out of a pouch and held it up. "We have experts in the art of exchanging rare gems and metals into local currency. Consider yourselves our guests for dinner. I would appreciate it, however, if we could stop on the way to your residence and pick up a selection of beers. I hope that you could make a recommendation or two…"

Once Shego pulled WP to the side and hammered it into his thick skull that she was not in danger and to stop planning her rescue, dinner went well.

The third member of Warhong's team showed up just as they were lighting the charcoal. The Imperial Lowardians were pleasant enough and clearly happy to be out of a cramped ship and under the Florida sky with a cold beer in their hands with burgers on the grill. A perfectly normal gathering of friends as long as one of your friends is nearly seven feet tall and two others were pushing eight feet in height. And, Shego thought, wearing battle suits that made the princess's battle suit look like fleece pajamas.

—

Later that night Shego lay in Drakken's arms.

"What should we do, Angel?" Drew murmured, nuzzling her hair.

"I think that you will be safe enough here for the moment. Warhong can play bodyguard while I go find Ron. I talked to Ann, she said that Kimmy is out of touch in China somewhere. She also said to have the meeting at her brother-in-law's ranch. Lots of open space to reduce collateral damage, lots of vegetation for you in case things go south."

"And her brother-in-law will agree?"

"Are you kidding _?_ Both Mr. Dr. P's are the biggest space nerds you can imagine.

"Angel, maybe you should go find Kimberly after you tell Ronald…"

"So, I can conveniently be safe out of sight when the meeting happens? Drew, are you really saying 'Get somewhere safe little lady and let the menfolk handle'…"

Drakken cut her off by turning her around and desperately kissing her. After a minute, Shego pulled away saying, "Drew, you aren't going to lose me. I'm not going to lose you. Let me go get us a mystical monkey butt powered sidekick and the three of us will kick their ass off our planet if that is what it takes, OK?"

"OK, Angel, but come back to me as soon as you can."

"Maybe you could give me an example of why I should hurry back…" Shego put her arms around Drakken's neck and partially pulled him on top of her.

Warhong moved away from their bedroom door, satisfied that they were not plotting treachery but only an honest defense of their planet. She wondered what 'mystical monkey butt' power was and if it was somehow related to the mystical weapon she had seen on the videos.


	7. Conversations

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable editing on parts of this story. Daccu65 provided a lot of the dialog in this chapter. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

Any appearance or mention of Wanda Wang and/or Suzie Chin are thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in his epic "Once Again" story arc.

Antubi Noratu appears also thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in "The Hunter: Book One"

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **Yori and Carlynn**_

Double checking that the fryolator was turned off, Ron placed the remaining small bowls of melted chocolate onto a tray and headed into the dining room to join the Feast of the Fresh Churros of Eternal Sisterhood. Looking around, he placed his small bowls of chocolate on tables that didn't already have one.

"These are great, Ron. Thanks!" said Linda. Nell, too busy chewing, simply raised her churro in salute.

Rhianna and Kathleen waved him over to a table where Jessica was already sitting. They had notebooks spread out on the table.

'Great,' he thought, 'Time to catch up on missed classes. Well, at least Barkin isn't around to pile on extra work.' He walked to the table followed by a steady stream of compliments by his house mates as he passed them.

"These churros are great!" chirped Rhianna, waving a chocolate dipped one at him. "NOPE intelligence reports a pop quiz on the muscles and ligaments related to the hand is likely during our lab on Monday." She held up papers saying "I got us copies of the quizzes from the last two years to look at."

Kathleen said, "Didn't miss much in English, a grammar quiz on Wednesday and Antubi says to tell you that he will go over his notes from last Thursday's _Bo-ryaku and Cho Ho_ and _Oriental Mythology/Mysticism_ classes when you guys get together Monday night.

Antubi Noratu was a surprise, Ron didn't know him well, but had met him at Yamanouchi. He was in three of Ron's classes with the young man's fluency in reading ancient Japanese and Chinese texts invaluable in studying scrolls in their _MMP Study and Practice Seminar._ In exchange for tutoring Ron a bit, Ron had been sparring with him and teaching Antubi "Ron Style" Aikido.

Ron sat comfortably in study with Rhi on anatomy while Kathleen brought Jessica up to speed on the American History and Woman's Studies classes that they shared.

Ron looked up about an hour later to see that the "Feast of Eternal Sisterhood" was winding down. A couple of people were starting to collect dishes onto wheeled carts. Looking around, he noticed that Yori was walking over to a table where Carlynn was sitting. Thinking that he should check that out, he thanked Rhi and Kathleen, got up and grabbed a cart and headed in Yori's direction.

Yori dipped the last bit of her churro in a bowl of chocolate and popped it in her mouth.

"We should get Stoppable-san to step up his churro game," suggested Yori. "I have had these in different parts of the world and they sometimes had a filling."

"You seem very protective of Ron. How long have you known him?" asked Carlynn.

"Excuse me for one moment please," said Yori. Standing up, she collected the empty plates and the empty chocolate bowl from the table an placed them on Ron's cart.

"Stoppable-san?" asked Yori, "Would you charge me with MMP, please? I need to connect with Master Sensei later tonight." Yori sat back down at the table.

"Uh, OK," he replied, stepping up behind her, placing his hands on the curve of her neck where it met her shoulder, and sliding his fingers under her collar to get better skin contact. Yori kept her eyes open so the girls sitting across from her had a clear view of blue sparkles appearing in her pupils. It was hard not to close them in bliss as relaxing coolness traveled down her body.

When she felt the skin on her neck and shoulders flush, she leaned back her head so she could see Ron's face, saying "Domo, that will be sufficient. Now please wander away, I wish to have a girl talk with your sisters here."

"Just a girl talk?" Ron noticed that Carlynn was sitting across from Yori with a carefully neutral expression on her face.

"Of course, my friend. No blood will be spilled tonight." Yori smiled then straightened her head and continued answering Carlynn's question. "I first met Stoppable-san a couple of years ago when he was a high school exchange student at my school. We have worked together several times since. Detective work you might say," Yori replied simply. "He has shown great bravery…

* * *

Ron pushed the cart over to the kitchen door. Walking to a nearby table where Nova sat watching Yori, he sat down. "Yori says she wants to have a girl talk. Do you think that she even knows what American style girl talk is?"

"Yori will be fine Ron," Nova replied, "Please don't be offended, but by the way Ms. Brand keeps glaring in this direction, perhaps you should make yourself scarce. Your presence seems to be a focus for conflict tonight."

"Well, I guess I'll go run the dishes through that beast of a dishwasher these guys have," Ron got up and turned towards the kitchen door. He was stopped by a hand on his arm.

"Ronchen," said Karli, "You should say 'that dishwasher **WE** have'. I will give them twenty-four hours, after that, anyone who does not respect you as a valued member of NOPE will no longer be welcome in this house."

"But, that's not…" Ron started to protest.

Karli let go of his arm, made a fist and tapped it on his bicep. "Eisenfaust, remember?" the house "mother" growled, "Now go wash some dishes, my sweet Ronchen."

Ron bowed to the house mother saying "I hear and obey my Eisenprinzessin." Telling the girls starting to push the carts into the kitchen "I got this, you can take my turn some other time," Ron moved the carts into the kitchen.

—

"… was of critical help in recovering a kidnapped person. Kim Possible joined us at the end of that mission," Yori continued.

"Are you as violent as he is?" interjected Carlynn starting to pick up steam.

"Brand-san, let me be clear. I am a ninja and my school is a ninja school that continues up through collegiate levels of training. That information is best not to be shared, but as Stoppable-san has claimed you as family, you will eventually figure it out. We are not cartoon ninja, we are real ninja. Our main goal is to protect our communities and family. We desire to work in shadow and leaving bodies and blood laying about interferes with that. I have been blessed with not having killed anyone, but that is due to a combination of good fortune and hard work."

"So Ron could have worked harder and avoided killing that alien guy!" Carlynn declared.

"I do not believe so. Stoppable-san does have the reputation of someone who enjoys his leisure. But in this case, before you can negotiate with someone, you must have someone willing to listen. I do not know the entire story, but in the beginning of the video, we hear the female alien say that Kim Possible will make a nice trophy to put on display. Hunters do not negotiate with their prey. Then for some reason, the female alien tries to stab the male alien, they speak to each other, then he kills her then blames Stoppable-san for her death."

"But Ron didn't even try!" wailed a frustrated Carlynn.

Yori stood up noticing that the entire room was paying attention to the two of them. She produced two Nerf guns and replaced their matte black darts with foam red ones, and then put the black darts back in her clothing.

"Let me demonstrate the point of view that Stoppable-san will not," Yori addressed the entire room. "He has too much honor to speak on his own behalf, so it is my honor to speak for him."

Yori displayed the two Nerf guns to the room at large, showing that they were harmless toys. Yori fixed the critical student with a glare and said, "Here, take this." tossing one to the stunned Carlynn.

"Now, I am the threatening alien," Yori told her. "And you are the one who has found herself between him and his prey."

"Now, Brand-san what is your move?" asked Yori.

"Well, I would…" Carlynn started to talk when, with a quick move, Yori pulled her trigger, sending a light, foam dart to bounce harmlessly off of Carlynn's forehead.

"You are dead now," Yori told her. Has your death accomplished anything? Not only is the answer no, but…" The ninja fired her remaining foam darts at random NOPE members. "Dead… dead… dead…" she claimed, as a dart bounced off each unharmed victim. "Not only was your death without purpose but several others, those you call sister, are dead because you would not act. As you lie there, dead and surrounded by the bodies of those you call sister, are you morally superior because you did not resort to violence? THAT is the cause of my anger towards you, Brand-san. From the comfort and safety of this house, you criticize a man who found himself in a situation with no good outcome. You criticize him for not finding a solution, when wasting the time to find that solution would have cost his life, the life of his soul mate, and the lives of everyone on this planet. Think of that, all of you...he gave you the gift of life itself, yet some of you choose to squander that gift by faulting him for giving it to you."

Silence confronted the Ninja as she turned to look at all eyes in the crowd. A few refused to meet her steady gaze. Hardening her heart, she relentlessly continued, "You remain safe and comfortable here because rough men and women perform dangerous and dirty tasks every day, yet most of you do not appreciate their sacrifice and efforts. Some of you openly scorn them for doing so. Yet, how many of you have been in that situation, where hesitation could cost you your life, and many other lives, as well?"

"But he must have had training to deal with this sort of thing," a voice, Yori could not see who spoke, sounded from somewhere in the crowd.

"He and Possible-san had not!" Yori corrected her, harshly. "A few short months ago, they were preparing to receive their high school diplomas, wondering what the future would hold for them, when they found themselves in this situation. They did not choose to quit, they did not choose to flee, they did not choose to let someone else deal with the situation, they chose to fight and possibly die to defend this world."

"I have read the after-action reports and I know that Stoppable-san expected to die in this battle. His only hope was that his action that resulted in his death might save others. I say they both deserve understanding and camaraderie, at the very least. Scorning them for their sacrifice is a grave dishonor."

Yori scanned the crowd again. She believed that most had not needed her speech and that she had convinced many of the doubters. Then there was Carlynn. The young woman looked stubbornly unconvinced. Yori placed her Nerf gun on the table and sat down across from her.

"Bravo, Ms. Yori," said Carlynn in a slight sneer. "Quite a moving speech with simple but effective special effects.

"Would you like to take the place of Kim or Ron using a simulation and try to do better?" asked a deadly calm Yori. "Or are you a couch critic that judges things that you have never attempted?"

Stung, Carlynn fired back, "I'm game, where is this simulator?"

"Why Brand-san," said Yori with a wicked grin, "it is right here" and reached across the table to touch the girl's forehead.

 _ **Jess and Ron**_

A full load of dishes and utensils went into the commercial dishwasher, meaning that the previous load was forced out. Ron pulled out a towel and dried the very hot items off before putting them away. By hustling, he was able to finish and load up the last rack before the machine was finished. When he pushed the last of the dishes into the machine, he was surprised to see Jessica and Lyndsey Winchell on the other side, towels in their hands, drying.

Unnoticed by the teens were two pairs of black eyes peering at them from the top of one of the giant commercial refrigerators.

"Hey Ron, We thought you could use a hand. It wasn't fair that you had to do the dishes," Lyndsey claimed. "We all ate ice cream and the churros that you made, but you're the only one dealing with the aftermath."

"Help's always a good thing, but I thought you'd want to be a part of the discussion," Ron admitted, starting the machine for the last time that night.

"Too much drama," replied Jessica.

Since the other two were taking care of the clean dishes, Ron grabbed a bar towel and cleaned off the dirty dish carts. As he and his helpers were done with their respective tasks by the time the machine finished, they took care of the last load. With the dishes dealt with, Lyndsey caught a look from Jessica and said, "Well, looks like my work here is done," she grinned and continued, "guess I'll go count how many sisters we have left and see if we need to rent a backhoe. 'Night all" Their dark skinned sister sauntered through the door into the dining room letting the door close behind her. When the deadbolt locked with a soft click, Jessica leaned against a counter and looked at him, curiously.

"Ron, what was bothering you earlier?" She asked him. "You've been down ever since Carlynn gave you grief about…well, I won't talk about it."

"It wasn't that," he told her. "It's kind of private."

"We're sisters now," she reminded him and flinched when he winced.

"Okay, I hit a nerve," she told him. She looked around confirming that they were alone. "Ron, I helped you father a child. I think we're a little past being too nervous to talk about things. I know you have some close friends you'd rather be talking to, but I'm here now. What's bothering you?"

Ron leaned against a wall and looked at her. For a long time, he debated whether he should talk or not. Finally, he decided that he could get this off of his chest without letting out any more secrets.

"It's this whole situation," Ron waved a hand around the room, indicating the entire building. "How do I manage to get the worst of every situation…even when they're mutually exclusive?"

Jessica could only quirk an eyebrow at that statement. Getting the hint, Ron realized he had to explain.

"Okay, just now you called me your sister. When it came time for a serious discussion, I wound up making churros. Somehow, I'm always the harmless buffoon who's only good for laughs or making snacks. How can I manage to be a testosterone soaked rage-murderer, but still not a guy, at the same time?"

Jessica looked at him, deciding that her chosen career meant that she should get used to dealing with fractured egos…even if she didn't understand the point of view.

"Let me see if I understand this," she spoke slowly, trying to articulate her thoughts in such a way that he would see how ridiculous his concerns were. "You are dating Kim, someone who you've developed a bond with that most people could only dream about, and you're wondering why a sorority isn't throwing themselves at you?"

"That's not the point," he glared back at her.

"Then what is it?" She asked. "You're upset that of a large number of young women, more aren't attracted to you?"

"Well…" Ron realized how childish his initial presentation sounded, so tried to make it sound more reasonable. "It's the fact that I'm never considered worth…well…considering. Look at this school, I'm willing to bet that I could outrun and out-dodge anyone on the football team…but I can't even walk on."

"Did you really want to play football?" Jessica asked him.

"I like the sport. At Middleton, there were really good guys on the team," he shrugged. "And if I could work my way into a scholarship, it would give me some financial options."

"Oh my gosh," Jessica paled a little, "Do you believe that the BHS has anything to do with that? I mean, they asked me to look out for you then your paperwork showed up here by mistake and nobody blinked an eye when we corrected the paperwork and sent it back. Do you think they talked to the coaches?"

Ron sighed, "No, not really. They always said I was too small for football, but they seemed willing to let me try if I used their nutritional supplements. But when my blood tests came back, they claimed my DNA looked too suspicious and the NCAA might accuse me of being a mutant or genetically engineered. Which is pretty ironic as Wade analyzed the 'nutrition supplements' they were going to make me take and found human growth hormone and a form of steroids that was developed in the 50's. It's so old that standard athletic drug testing doesn't look for it. But that's part of what I am talking about. I seem to just about grab some accomplishment on my own and something comes up. And then it happens that I'm in this sorority because someone can't grasp the fact that I'm a functioning male," he continued. "And now I'm sort of a…defective girl…not a guy."

"Rhianna thinks you're hot," Jessica pointed out.

"Only to the point that it could give you guys an excuse to play a prank," Ron countered, although he grinned a little.

"She and I didn't know about the prank, her defense of you was honest," Jessica decided not to argue the minor point further, but to try to get to the bottom of the issue. "So Kim isn't enough for you? You know, there are probably only a couple of million guys who would gladly trade places with you, right now."

"I know," Ron's slight grin vanished. "And how long will it be before she realizes that most of those millions of guys are better looking, more accomplished and smarter? How long before she realizes that most of those millions of guys haven't embarrassed her, over and over?" He took a deep breath. "How long before she realizes that most of those millions of other guys…are guys?"

Jessica didn't have an immediate answer. She made a mental note to talk to Yori and Nova at the first available opportunity. Ron had a serious lack of self-esteem.

"Even something as…cold and businesslike as that child I helped create," Ron continued, jolting Jessica out of her contemplation. "It wasn't because someone looked at me and said 'intelligent, loving, and athletic, he'll make a good father'. No, it was because the genes that I carry, not something that I did."

"So you think that love is something you earn?" Jessica challenged him.

"Not exactly," he rolled his eyes. "I've read the vending machine memes…you know, about how a woman isn't something that you give kindness and get…well…let's say affection, back. I know it doesn't work that way…completely. But…I guess I'm saying that it would be nice to have someone want me for being me."

"That's exactly what Kim does!" Jessica insisted.

"Is it?" He asked. "Or is it just momentum? That we've been together so long that she can't see anything else until she's forced to?"

Again, Jessica didn't have an answer.

"I didn't even get this Mystical Monkey Power out of achievement or proving myself," he droned on. "I was trying to save my own skin. Everything I've got going for me right now was sort of handed to me. I'm not a kid anymore, in four more years, I'll be in the real world where I'll have to accomplish things…and I've never accomplished anything!"

"But the power chose you,' she told him. "It chooses to manifest through you. If it didn't approve of you, I don't think it would stay with you."

"You're right," he admitted. "But its choice was me or a raving madman. It's kind of hard to feel good about being better than him. One of the side effects isn't all that great."

"The fertility leper?" Jessica grinned despite the serious moment. "Any female you come in contact with becomes hyper-fertile."

"It's not just women," he told her, matching her attempt at humor with a serious face. "It affects me, as well."

"How is this possible?" She asked him. "Fertilization, gestation…all of that takes place inside the woman!"

"I don't know," Ron told her. "But Kim's uncle got charged up by Rufus and had…well…"

"I get the picture," Jessica rescued him from having to say it.

"Anyway, he was charged up, she wasn't and now they're expecting," Ron told her. "Fortunately, they were already kind of sweet on each other and she really wants the child. Otherwise…"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Do you ever think about the future," he asked her. "Do you ever think about someday, either being married or having a steady lover?" He suddenly blushed. "Sorry, I don't know if you have a boyfriend or how serious it is."

"Monogamy is a construct of the capitalist patriarchy," she told him. "By confining yourself with it, you are only living and strengthening the oppressive gender roles that must be broken if we are to liberate all women." She then gave a pained smile. "That's from one of my professors. Personally, I think that if every successful civilization in history was based on the nuclear family, there must be something to be said for it. I also think that if you break a traditional gender role just because it is there, you are every bit as shackled by it as if you follow it. Finally, even though I'm a liberated and enlightened, twenty-first-century young woman, someday, I'd like to find someone to spend the rest of my life with. I think most people do."

"Have you ever thought about the…well…physical relationship with your husband?" Ron asked her. "That sometimes you're just going to feel like…"

"Ron," Jessica noted his hesitation. "A couple of days ago...well, we didn't have sex, but we did a sexual act with each other, you can say the word."

"Okay, because I'm permanently charged up on MMP, I'm never going to be able to have real sex unless we want to get pregnant," he blurted out. "Sure, I can do other fun stuff, and seventy-three percent of women don't get an orgasm from 'p' in 'v' sex so you do the other stuff anyway but fifty-eight percent of women said that doing 'it' gave them the closest, most spiritual connection to their partner. So, don't you think that not being able to do 'it' is going to put a bit of a crimp in any long term, romantic relationship?"

He took a deep breath. "Imagine yourself a few years from now. Say you have the career, the house, the SO, everything. The two of you are at home one evening, not doing much and you start feeling a little frisky. If you don't want kids just yet, wouldn't it be nice to be able to take some precautions and then just have fun and not worry about it? I'll never have that. Not only that, but anyone I'm with won't have that. Don't you think that's going to be a little hard for anyone else to take?"

"I'd like to say that it's no big deal, but I'd be lying," Jessica admitted. "Uh, where did you get your numbers from?"

"My dad," Ron admitted a little sheepishly. "I didn't get ' _The Talk_ ', I got ' _The Presentation_ '. Complete with graphs, spreadsheets, flowcharts, and risk management strategies."

"Oh no," Jessica grinned, too amused to be embarrassed, "Really? Risk management? Risk of what? Pregnancy? Disease?"

"AND, the risk of not pleasing your partner," Ron admitted. "My dad is an actuary, risk management for clients of insurance companies is his specialty." He chuckled at the memory. "That's my dad, he's the dietary fiber of erotic discussions."

"So how do you reduce that risk?" Jessica asked.

"Well," said Ron rubbing the back of his neck, "There are flowcharts of suggested actions the gentleman can take, but the number one strategy was to talk to your partner and see what she wants."

"Wow," said Jessica. She tried not to snark, but a little bled into her voice. "What a concept! Talk to your love." So have you talked to Kim? Does she know about your worries?"

Ron looked at the ground, "Yeah, we've talked. When I told her I didn't feel I deserved her, she said, and I quote: ' _But Ron, you don't deserve me. I'm not a vending machine that you feed in dedication, love, and smoking hot sex then push a button and out comes my love in return. I chose you. I know all about you from being with you for years and still, I choose you. Now on the other hand, whether I deserve you or not is moot, because you are mine, Ron Stoppable_ ', unquote."

Jessica stared at Ron for a full minute. First, she really wanted to smack Ron upside the head and call him an idiot for all this self-generated, totally unnecessary, drama. Second, she was astonished that he could repeat what Kim said word for word although she frankly thought the 'smoking hot sex' part was TMI. Then she struck on an idea on how she could relate to him: As an impostor. To get him to listen, she decided to try lightening the mood.

Jessica walked over to stand beside Ron, putting her arm around his neck in a rough embrace, closer to a head-lock than a lover's hug. "OK, Ron, Big Sis here thinks she has a strategy for you."

"Jess, you're not my big sister," Ron pointed out.

"If I remember the old cheer squad roster correctly, I'm a month and a half older than you, now hush, Big Sis is talking," she said giving him a small shake.

Ron gave a little snort, "OK, 'neechan', I'm listening."

Jessica took a breath, "You feel like an impostor. You feel like Kim thinks you are better than you really are and will leave you when she discovers the truth. You actually felt a little relieved when football fell through because then they wouldn't discover your Middleton football accomplishments were just luck. You feel unworthy of this MMP stuff and are waiting for it to leave you for someone truly 'worthy'. You find yourself in a house full of women with high academic standards and worry that they will find out that you are both an idiot and a wussy-man. Am I close?"

Ron thought for a minute. "Maybe, how would you know how I feel?"

"Ron, I've always been tall for my age. Only in high school did I finally grow into my legs. I am a klutz. I remember in eighth grade tripping on a bookcase that mom used for growing African Violets, knocking the bookcase over. Mom was nearly in tears and told me to just go outside, that she couldn't deal with me right then."

"But you were great on the cheer squad!" Ron pointed out.

"Yes and most of the time I was terrified that I would 'klutz up' and get someone hurt then K would tell me to leave the team."

"You smile all the time…" Ron wondered out loud.

"That's cheerleader training." Jessica replied, "Do you know how often we heard 'OK, girls, heads up, shoulders back, chest out and most of all, smile!'? To be fair, Senior year I started to relax a lot. First, it was the last year and if I 'klutzed up' but didn't like, you know, get anybody killed or something, I could go to a college where nobody knew me, dye my hair and start over. Second, and more important for you is that I was beginning to believe my own act. That I wasn't a klutz anymore."

"Believe your own act?" Ron asked.

"Exactly. So here is what you are going to do, little brother." Jessica laid down the law, "You are going to get up in the morning and you are not going to let anyone find out how unworthy you are. You are going to work your butt off acting like the person that Kim believes you to be. You are going to do whatever it takes to act like the master of this MMP stuff. You are going to act like a real man to your sisters in this house. And I don't mean some beer swilling, party all night, horndog stereotype of a man, I mean a man that your real sister Hana will be proud of. A man that everyone except a villain will be glad to see walk into the room."

"But it will only be an act," Ron objected.

"Come on Ron, think!" Jessica gave him another shake. "I'm not telling you to act like someone bad or someone that's not really who you want to be. Think of it as continuously practicing to be the person you want to be. The same Ron Stoppable that killed an alien to protect K was the same Ron whose "Think of England" joke destroyed all the tension and discomfort in a room and allowed us to complete a mission."

"And if I screw up?"

"Then you shake yourself off and get back in the act. Ron, what parachuting license do you hold?" Jessica queried.

"USPA class A license, the lowest. I need more freefall time and better accuracy to get a B license. Kim has the B and is working on the C license," Ron replied.

"Scuba license?" Jessica asked.

"Open Water Advanced certificate, Kim is a certified Rescue Diver."

"Mountain climbing license?" Jessica was starting to see a pattern.

"They let any idiot rent climbing gear. Kim has a 'Rock Guide' certification from some American mountain guide association," Ron pointed out.

"Ron, is there a problem with your not having as high of certifications as K?" Jessica's strategy had been to try to build up Ron by asking Ron how many of those million guys that are his competition has the same certifications. But now she saw a different problem.

"Well, yeah! How am I supposed to watch Kim's back if I can't keep up with her?" Ron said. "How can I help her if she is always coming back to pull me out of a tree?"

"How many of those couple million guys that want your place could really do a better job at watching K's back than you can? Be ready twenty-four hours a day to follow her across the globe and put up with her Kimness? Be honest!" Jessica challenged.

"I don't know! Maybe a thousand?" Ron sounded frustrated.

"And if you were a better athlete and master of this MMP stuff?" challenged Jessica.

"Maybe a hundred. Maybe less. Mastering the MMP is not going to be easy…" Ron's eyes showed more enthusiasm than she had seen in weeks.

"One step at a time little brother. First act like the person you want to be and see if you can knock the list down to nine hundred from a thousand, OK?"

"OK, sounds like a plan, big sis." Ron was actually smiling now. Or at least until his eyes flashed blue. "No blood will be spilled tonight, my butt! Yes, Rufus, I know she meant 'real blood', but still…" Ron strode to the door yelling "Bishop! Unlock all doors!"

Unnoticed by either student a large raven unlocked a window and slid it open. It and its partner both snatched two left over churros and flew out the open window. Bishop noticed the open window on its next thirty-second window check and silently closed it to conserve energy.

 _ **The Call of Wind Chimes**_

A/N The basic idea of this section was directly taken from "Kim Possible: The Call of Wind Chimes" by CajunBear73 with his kind permission. His story was a beautiful ending for Yankee Bard's "Sometimes It's Hard to Be a Hero". CB73's story is one of love, understanding, and forgiveness complete with great symbolism. This, alas, is one of stubborn refusal to understand and beating one's head against a wall. Read the original stories, you won't regret it.

* * *

"Would you like to take the place of Kim or Ron using a simulation and try to do better?" asked a deadly calm Yori. "Or are you a couch critic that judges things that you have never attempted?"

Stung, Carlynn fired back, "I'm game, where is this simulator?"

"Why Brand-san," said Yori with a wicked grin, "it is right here" and reached across the table to touch the girl's forehead.

Yori had sent a message earlier to Master Sensei and Rufus asking them to be ready to support her in _The Call of Wind Chimes_. She had Carlynn select a partner to support her and to yank them out of the trance if things got too intense. It would have been better if Ron were here, but the event would be too painful for him to relive just for the sake of one idiot's education. Rufus had been there, he would be able to provide the needed details from his memory in addition to allowing her to tap into his considerable mystical power.

Yori lit a stick of incense. "Does the smoke contain a hypnotic drug?" someone asked.

"No, it just smells pretty and helps people relax and concentrate," claimed Yori. It would also cover any stink of fear, but she saw no reason to mention that. Speaking to Corie Chary, Carlynn's roommate, she said, "Chary-san, remember, that all you have to do to bring both Brand-san and myself out of the trance is to let go of her hand. You must watch her for signs of distress, as I will also be in the trance and unable to see her physical body." Yori held out her hand to Carlynn she asked, "Are you still game?" Yori asked.

People in the room heard Carlynn say "Bring it on," reach out and take Yori's hand. Both women closed their eyes and some swore there was a blue glow around their clasped hands.

Long minutes passed then Carlynn started gasping for air. Corie pried her hand free from Carlynn's panicked grip and both Yori and Carlynn opened their eyes. Carlynn looked quite ill. Yori quickly reached over the table and poked several pressure points on the sallow skinned young woman's body. Carlynn, too upset to notice that Yori had touched her, dropped her head on the table still trying to catch her breath. "The monkeys. The monkeys were screaming so loud that I couldn't think. I think they made me crazy!" Carlynn's color was visibly returning to normal.

"What happened?" someone in the crowd asked.

"I was Kim. Ron saved me by killing the alien like in the video, but this time, the big one killed Ron with a huge dagger. It wasn't a fair test! The monkeys prevented me from thinking of another way!"

"Carlynn," said Nova, handing both women glasses of iced water with a little lemon and ginger, "That was accurate. At the time neither Ron nor Kim had proper training in suppressing the monkey voices. If you wish, I can show you how to turn off the monkey voices and you can try again."

"Yes, show me how!" Carlynn just knew that she could solve this problem without bloodshed.

The trance started again, this time with Nova's hand added to Yori's and Carlynn's.

After a couple of minutes, Nova opened her eyes and withdrew her hand. Looking worried, she checked both women's pulse with a touch to their throats. Five minutes later, Carlynn started to tremble causing Corie to let go of her, pulling everyone out of the trance.

"OK, OK, I've got an idea, let me try again as Ron…" Carlynn gasped out, her hands running over her neck and body looking for wounds that weren't there.

This time, Corie broke the connection when Carlynn screamed, "Kim, NO!"

"One more time, I want to try to be both! I know I can do this!" begged Carlynn, tears in her eyes. She was fair-skinned to start with, but now her skin was a pallid, ghastly white. Standing behind her, Nova looked at Yori and shook her head. Carlynn was getting too stressed.

Once again, Yori hardened her heart and grimly held out her hand to Carlynn.

'No, no, no!', thought Carlynn standing on the grass wearing sneakers, shorts, and a sports bra. 'It should have worked!' Looking on the ground, she saw a bloody wreck of her Ron-self laying beside a huge male alien with a bloody chest wound.

"Come my great blue!" said the large female alien. "We have an Empire to burn and worlds to conquer!" The alien pulled out a small object and pressed a button. "My personal ship will be here in a few minutes."

"But you killed them!" Carlynn screamed, dropping her sword and falling to her knees.

"Warhawk would have tried to take you for himself and the other great blue would have gotten in the way later. Besides, you said you broke up with him. Killing him makes the breakup cleaner. Probably kinder for him to die quickly now, you know how tender hearted and whiny males can be." replied the alien who held out her hand. "Come, my love, our ship approaches."

Her spirit shattered and sick to her very soul, Carlynn's Kim-self fell down to lay on the grass weeping and she just wanted to die. This time, Carlynn got the aliens to talk, only to have the alien woman kill the male alien with a dagger - probably poisoned and then killed Ron and now she was going to take Kim, leave Earth to kill and burn people on other worlds.

The soft blue glow around her body flared and suddenly she was back at the table, holding Corie's hand with a crushing iron grip. Ron's large hands were gently wrapped around her and Yori's wrists pulling their hands apart. Ron's eyes were flashing a brilliant blue. But Carlynn saw sadness, not anger in them as he looked at her. Those same eyes flashed with annoyance when he looked over her shoulder at Nova.

"Hey, don't glare at me with those baby blues, these are both big girls and I told Yori the last dive wasn't a good idea," explained Nova.

"It needed to be done. I will not ask for forgiveness, Stoppable-san," Yori declared, sagging down in the chair.

Before Yori could fall to the floor, Ron scooped her up in a bridal carry.

"Let's put her to bed in my room, Ron," Jessica said, leading the way out of the dining room, "Susan is out visiting family and won't be back until tomorrow evening. We can put Yori in her bed."

Together the two put the exhausted kunoichi to bed. Ron directed Jessica on removing Yori's many weapons and laying them on the nightstand by the bed. It was a sign of how deep her exhaustion was that Yori didn't stir once while being stripped of her armament and outer garments.

 _ **Kim and Freya**_

"Kjrr, do you see them pressing on the right?" Kim asked her sergeant. "Think we can pull off a nutcracker?"

Kjrr, an older, grizzled warrior who had been willing to support her 'fancy, highborn, girlie idea of practice and drill' looked at the battle line and nodded. The giants were pressing on a narrow spot on the right. He had in fact, taught Kim the idea that allowing an opposing warrior to break through your line could work if you made it a trap. Especially in this environment where giants didn't fight shoulder to shoulder.

A warrior defending a battle line with sword/axe and shield was weak to the sides and strong in front because his shield could only protect one side. Usually that meant that the warrior that broke through had the advantage because he could turn and attack the defender's weak side.

Kjrr told Kim if the breakthrough was allowed with a few extra defenders behind the line, you could have people attacking the intruders from both sides. Especially with giants because they tended to move straight before turning.

"Thrasi! Take ten men and go to the right side, the giants are trying to break through. LET THEM ADVANCE ONE BOAT LENGTH AND HOLD THEM THERE! NUTCRACKER!" Kim shouted to one of her lieutenants. "Hrolf!" she shouted to a runner, "Go tell the people on the left to get ready to shift right to cut off the giants pressing through the line!"

The battle was a hot mess. Oh, her troops were fierce fighters but had little discipline…or common sense. They would much rather drink mead than drill, but Kjrr had knocked a few heads together allowing Kim to get in a few drills with them. They were stopping an assault on Sessrumnir, Freya's hall in her small land of Folkvang. The terrain was Kim's best advantage in this battle, as she was trying to turn a narrow pass, maybe fifty yards wide into a defensible chokepoint.

Kim had been arguing strategy with Thor, trying to convince him that there had to be smarter ways to fight than "run screaming to attack the nearest foe." Currently, Thor and Loki were off to the East with most of Freya's fighters stopping the main body of giants, she and about one hundred fighters were stopping this end-around assault.

When Kim got back to Midgard, she swore she was going to study small unit tactics. Her previous knowledge of tactics was mostly learned from watching Ron and Felix play Zombie Mayhem Bronze Age. An odd comparison, but zombies and most giants seemed similar with respect to how they fought. She thought it odd that she had no fighters with bows or slings. Heck, for that matter, she would have expected some of the warriors to have firearms. She dragged herself back from woolgathering to watch her defenders.

Kim cheered with triumph when Thrasi's **twenty-five** troops stopped well short of the line and let the giants push the defenders back to them. OK, maybe Thrasi wasn't the best at counting, but he did stop short and let the defenders in front of him fall back. The rest of Thrasi's warriors struck the giants from the side. Unable to block attacks from two directions with their shields, her troops crushed the giants that were trying to break through the line.

Her triumph was short lived when a pair of giant champions blew through the weakened left side of the line and started to rampage in her rear area. Time to commit her reserve. As Thrasi had pulled away the fifteen warriors that Kim was saving for her reserve, she was now the reserve. Kim jumped from the little wooden watchtower and charged, leaving Kjrr muttering about idiot commanders while picking up his axe and shield.

* * *

Kim leaned back against a tree and munched on a slice of apple. In the end, a single champion and a number of surviving giants had withdrawn and Kim almost failed to get her fighters to hold their line and not pursue them. She had held the pass! Then she had made sure that the Valkyries had taken care of her wounded and fallen. The pain in her abdomen was easing up a little bit, she assumed that the apple was healing whatever their champion had damaged. But something subtler was broken in her and she knew what it was.

What seemed a lifetime ago, she had killed a Lowardian to save Ron and that action had almost destroyed her. Now in her role as "Lady Kim, the Hand that Holds the Hammer" she was a merciless freak of death and destruction and she thought it should bother her more. She held up Mjöllnir and spun it. Maybe the hammer was affecting her mind as well as her body.

Her forces today were fighters who had already fallen in battle at least once. She suspected that her fallen troops would appear back in the halls in the next day or two. She wondered if the giants had their own halls of the hallowed fallen. Was this just a pointless conflict where the fighters were just recycled to fight over and over? Maybe Zombie Mayhem was the appropriate game to study…

"Lady Kim, are you well?" A tall, very attractive woman pulled up in a small chariot pulled by two house cats. Kim blinked, not lions, tigers, or panthers, they were two ordinary looking brown tabbies.

Kim stood, brushing the grass off her steel and leather skirt. "Well enough, thank you. I'm sorry, but have we met?"

"I am Freya. You defended my home. Thank you for that, my husband Odin is on a walkabout in some realm or other, or he would be here to thank you himself."

"You are welcome, goddess," answered Kim. Scuttlebutt among her troops was that Freya was the "party girl" of the gods and liked to thank her fighters "personally" when Odin wasn't around and apparently Odin wasn't home that often. She was also said to be a powerful sorceress second only to Odin in magic. Supposedly better than Heimdallr at prophecy. Odd that the fact that she used house cats to pull her chariot never came up. Asgardians sometimes were strange in what they thought was normal.

"You don't look well, my lady, at the very least I believe your spirit is troubled, join me and we will go have tea and chat." Freya stepped back a little to give Kim room to step on the chariot in front of her. When Kim hesitated, she added, "Come, come, you are recovering from having just fought a battle and shouldn't have to walk to the hall. Smokey and Misty won't mind a bit."

Kim found herself riding Freya's chariot with Smokey and Misty easily pulling them up the hill toward the great hall. Freya had one arm holding the reins and the other arm around Kim. Kim at first thought it was to steady her, the little chariot had no sides or hand holds for her to hang onto, but the goddess's hand seemed to wander a bit…

The chariot stopped not at the magnificent great hall, but at a small cottage off to the side. Getting off the chariot, Freya reached down and unhitched the two cats who trotted off toward the great hall. The goddess ushered Kim into the little one-room cottage, guiding her in with her hand on Kim's back. Very low on Kim's back.

Freya bade Kim sit in a heavily cushioned chair and walked over to a little sink and stove and started heating a pot of water for tea.

"Lady Kim, I fear that you are getting out of balance and that is troubling your spirit," Freya said, rummaging through small boxes in a cabinet.

"How so, goddess?" replied Kim. Kim's friendship bracelet felt warm and there seemed to be a slight glow appearing in some of the gems in a very attractive necklace that Freya was wearing.

"Call me Freya, please. You are not normally a fighter on Midgard are you?" Frey sprinkled tea leaves into a golden teapot and added hot water.

"Not really, I mean, I have fought villains, but until this one time recently, never to the death." admitted Kim.

"I am a goddess of War, Sensual Love, and Fertility," Freya declared, "Half of the chosen dead come to my hall and the other half to Odin's Valhalla. I am involved in the death of harvest time and the new life of crops in spring. That gives me balance. Some of us like Thor can be all death and destruction, but I think simply having the potential to create new life causes your spirit and mine to become unbalanced if exposed to too much death and destruction and not enough sensual love."

"So, my problem is that I need to get laid?" Kim snarked. (a small amount of snark, she was talking to a goddess after all)

"No! Listen to yourself!" Freya poured tea into two cups and placed one on the little table in front of Kim's chair. She sat in a chair across from Kim. "Get laid! Really! You make it sound like you are a brick or piece of tile!" Freya scoffed, "Where is the pleasure? The joy? The fun? The intimate and spiritual connection to another being?"

"Do you really get all those things every time?" asked Kim earnestly.

"Sometimes I make do with pleasure, fun, and joy. Sometimes a goddess has needs, you know. I could demonstrate how good three out of four can be, if you like."

"Uh, no thank you, I'm not that needy at present." Kim found herself tempted a little, Freya was amazingly attractive.

"I have a twin brother if your needs run to something more masculine." Freya offered.

"No, I'm fine, really," Kim insisted, thinking, 'Whoa, a twin brother? Must be out modeling for romance novel covers or something.'

"Very well. I cannot think of any of my kin who do not possess a capacity for war and battle. Perhaps your spirit lacks that capacity. Maybe that is why you are so out of balance."

"Then how can I take the hammer into battle at all?" asked Kim.

"Part of nurturing is protecting. My son tells me that the first time you used Mjöllnir, you thought that you were protecting what you thought was a normal Midgardian. From actively defending a person you know from monsters to becoming a Battle Leader leading men into war to defend a land is an easy slope to go down."

"So, I'm doomed to be caught up in death and destruction with only taking breaks for dealing with sensual needs?" Kim wondered aloud.

"If you don't like where the slippery slope has dumped you, find another mountain to live on. Asgard is a violent land. Perhaps you need to go home to Midgard." replied Freya.

'Go home,' Kim thought, 'I need to go home to Ron.'

"Kim, your little bracelet, do you know what it does?"

"It signifies friendship between myself, the dwarves who made it, and I have a fourth one to give to my lover back on Midgard," Kim answered.

Freya closed her eyes a moment. Opening them she said, "It also blocks things that would influence or deceive you, things like magic."

"How do you know that?" Kim asked.

"I'm Freya, it's my business to know things. That we are talking and drinking tea instead of helping each other take care of our sensual needs is another indication." She held up her necklace. "This has magical attraction on several levels."

"It doesn't seem like you would need any magical help attracting lovers, if you ask me," pointed out Kim.

"Why thank you, dear heart. You are most kind to say that," Freya said then added with a slow smile, "Even if it is true."

"May I ask you for some advice?" asked Kim.

"Certainly. But be careful about taking advice from Asgardians."

"Who should I give the hammer to?" asked Kim.

"Take it with you when you leave. Best to give it to someone not of any of the nine realms." Freya replied.

"How do I get my balance back?" asked Kim.

"Give the hammer away and then have your Ronald Stoppable lay you like a piece of tile," smirked Freya. "Seriously Lady Kim, I know that Heimdallr has said that you don't appear in his prophecies. I am stronger than he is. I see many paths that lead to your getting your balance back and many paths that have you remaining unbalanced and becoming joyless. The path with Ronald in it has a lot of pleasure, fun, joy, and an intimate and spiritual connection that can return your balance. Also, some pain, sadness, and worry; all paths have that. But that is the path I believe will work the best for you."

Freya looked thoughtful, "Kim, why are you here?"

"I don't understand the question," replied Kim.

"OK, let me be more specific, what were you doing at the pass earlier today?" asked Freya.

"Fighting the giants that were trying to slip through unnoticed," replied Kim.

"Why did you care if the giants got through?" asked Freya.

Kim frowned, "Thor said they were attacking your great hall. I wanted to protect your people."

"Kim, in addition to taking care of half of the chosen fallen warriors, I also care for women who commit suicide. So, my people are made up of chosen dead warriors plus my Valkyries and the dead women who take care of them. I believe that you would say that giants attacking my great hall would be about as successful as a robber holding up a police station on Midgard."

"No other servants? Farmers?" Kim asked.

"My cats Smokey and Misty are the only truly living creatures here. Besides you and me of course. Farms are in Hel."

Kim protested, "So why did Thor ask me to lead a small group of warriors to defend the pass?"

Freya sighed, "He sees this as practice for Ragnarok. I believe he is considering offering you a position here on Asgard. Try to ignore the death and destruction for a moment. Did you like leading warriors into battle?"

Kim thought for a moment. "Having people take my commands and fight successfully was exciting. I liked having their backs. But I think the constant violence would wear me down," she admitted.

Freya asked, "Why haven't you gone home already?"

Kim replied, "Well, when I first got here, I was caught up in a battle and had to heal, then I went to Nidavellir thinking there was trouble there, and then Thor asked me to help defend your lands."

Freya pointed out, "You could have said 'no'."

"It was nice to be needed, to be in someplace new and exciting. I guess I saw it as an adventure." Kim admitted.

Freya looked pleased. "So, my dear Lady Kim, what is your plan? Say the first thing that comes to mind, you can refine your plans daily if you wish."

"Go to Ron, have an adventure with him while he makes sure that I get laid like tile!" Kim laughed. Finishing her tea, she put the cup down. "Thank you for the tea and the advice, Freya. I think I need to talk to Heimdallr and see about getting home."

"I will walk you to the path," said Freya, "I need to go to the hall and interview for a new captain of guards."

"Oh, one last thought on your plan," said Freya opening the door, "Have you thought of an adventure that both you and your Ronald Stoppable would both enjoy?"

Kim pondered the question with a frown on her face as she walked out of the cottage. Did this time apart to 'discover themselves' mean that they might find that their ideas of adventure had become incompatible? Could Ron be growing apart from her? She decided that she really needed to get back to him.

Stopping at the path, they said their goodbyes and Kim started walking down the path that led to Asgard. Freya looked at a raven watching from a tree branch. "Make yourself useful and go tell Eir that she needs to come claim Lady Kim." As the bird flew away, Freya watched Kim crumple to the ground. Turning to the great hall, she pondered, "Egil or Cort for my new captain? Perhaps I could try them out as co-captains…"


	8. Calm before the Lowardians

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable editing on parts of this story. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

Any appearance or mention of Wanda Wang and/or Suzie Chin are thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in his epic "Once Again" story arc.

Antubi Noratu appears also thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in "The Hunter: Book One"

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **Morning Run**_

NOPE had a tremendous pride for the GPA of its members. Core to maintaining this standard was its "mandatory" group study sessions. Ideally, to have a group study session, you must have a group. To have a group, you need members that have the class currently or had recently had the class. Ron's "house sisters" found some of his classes a challenge when it came to finding study mates, but not an insurmountable one, to Dr. Nova Olson's surprise and delight.

Her first surprise was when her two-hour "personal run" turned into a PHYS 001 class that people could take for _One_ Phys Ed credit.

Her second was that her Senior Level 'MMP Study and Practice' Seminar had four students, in addition to Ron, attending. The people in NOPE apparently had some solid connections in the school's administration. The MMP Study and Practice seminar was supposed to be by instructor invitation, only. Nonetheless, three of Ron's housemates had shown up with approved change slips to join the class.

Meeting Nova for her morning two-hour run wasn't a problem for Ron. After all, he had six sisters and an old teammate to make sure he was up and on time. The first half was running 10 kilometers in under an hour. Ron wasn't a track star, but he could manage that.

This morning he wasn't trying to just manage it, he was trying to finish with Lyndsey still in sight. In her last big meet, Lyndsey had almost beat her personal best of thirty-two minutes, fifty seconds for the 10k event. Ron thought she placed in the top five, but she told him that her placement didn't matter. "Why should my performance be judged on who else happened to show up that day?", she had explained. But a three-a-week 10k run could not be done at a competition's pace if she still needed to do a second event immediately afterward, so she 'loafed along', aiming for a thirty-eight-minute time.

Ron was using a shorter stride that Lyndsey told him to try and that seemed to help a little. What really helped was his steady 'pull on the blue'. He believed that in a competition, drawing on the power of the MMP to increase his body's efficiency and strength would be cheating. On the other hand, if the stakes were your "sister" teasing you about how you run "slower than a girl", well, all bets were off.

Ron was running steadily and easily about twenty-five feet behind his track star sister and the white wolf that was loping along beside her. If he pulled a little harder on the blue, he knew he could beat her, but as she had told him, running faster than some other person wasn't the point. The point was that he had been pulling steadily on the blue for thirty minutes now and didn't feel either body fatigue or his MMP running low.

Ron wasn't the only one willing to cheat this morning. Rhianna was running by his side. She had shown up to the MMP class and was gaining control at a scary pace. The first run where the young illusionist had tried to use MMP, she needed him to recharge her about seven kilometers into the run. Now she could finish the run, do the second event and not need a recharge until the next day's MMP class.

Jessica and the other students convinced Nova to let them run a shorter course. So, the rest ran/jogged a 5k with May Loeventhal, a middle-distance runner on the track team, pacing and encouraging them.

Chaos even joined the 'short distance runners' occasionally, and nearly kept up with them. Pretty good for a self-described 'old man', if he did say so himself.

The second event of the period was "Agility Training", which varied from day to day. So far, Nova had led them in rock climbing and Ron's personal favorite, a commercial obstacle course with platforms and ropes. Rope ladders, rope bridges to cross (without using hands please!) ropes to climb, ropes to swing on. Nova teased him on letting his 'inner monkey' out to play. As Nova intended, Ron and company worked hard on their time to do their initial run quickly to have more time to "play" with agility training.

Today, they were doing their most common agility training; performing 'bondiggity' dancing steps while on a moving treadmill. Ron spun too many times in a row, got his feet a little tangled up and nearly fell off his treadmill. Stepping off to wait for his balance to recover, he surveyed the rest of the class.

Chaos had joined them this morning and was proving that his body might be old, but he still had some smooth moves.

Jessica had gotten her old teammate Crystal into the class. Crystal hadn't been interested in looking at sororities and was quite happy with living with friends in the dorm. They were dancing side by side on treadmills. Their dance routine was a modified cheer squad routine and their dancing side by side was truly art in motion; a display of grace and beauty in perfect synchrony by a blonde goddess and a Greek goddess twirling and dancing in step with an occasional sideways cartwheel that had them swapping treadmills.

The two runners, Lyndsey and May along with Margaret and Candace (Not Candy!) were following along to Nova's lead. Currently, it looked like they were practicing skipping backward.

Rhianna was standing on the frame of her treadmill staring at him with twinkling blue eyes. Startled, Ron suddenly realized that he didn't remember her real eye color when she called out, "Come on Mad Dog, get those paws moving and try to make it more interesting for me to follow this time."

Grinning, Ron hopped back on his treadmill and restarted it. Figuring that gymnastic moves she didn't know would be cheating, he tried some moves from a _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_ Kata: Leaping strikes and spinning blocks with counterattacks modified to allow for the moving treadmill belt. He didn't hear the thump of Rhi falling off her treadmill and taking a glance at her, he saw her following along, a satisfied grin on her face.

"OK, People! Hit the showers! We need to give the room back to the Normals," called out Nova. There had been some discussion with cranky gym staff about "the proper use of treadmills and lack of respect for gym equipment". Ron's comment about "Never be normal" didn't help, but in the end, they had exclusive use of the room for an hour and a half to avoid "Normals" learning bad habits and getting hurt.

Rhianna ran into the locker room. She had another class in thirty minutes and needed to hustle.

"Ron, hold up a minute please, we need to talk to you," Lyndsey called out.

Nova and Chaos walked past him on the way to the locker room. Nova said, "Good class, see you all next time." Chaos merely nodded to Ron. Glancing behind Ron, he grinned and said, "With it or on it, man."

Ron turned around to see Lyndsey, May, Margaret and Candace looking stern, even upset at him. Crystal was looking confused and Jessica's eyes seemed to show amusement?

"Ladies," said Ron, "What can I do for you?"

"Ron, we need to talk," Lyndsey said in a manner that made Ron's mind struggle to think of what he could have done to piss these people off."

"Actually, we are going to talk, you need to listen," growled May.

"Okay…" Ron gulped, "You have my full attention."

"Rhianna is special," Lyndsey started.

When Ron started to say something in agreement, Margaret held up a finger cutting him off. Later Ron would reflect that she couldn't have been more threatening if she'd held up a switchblade.

"Rhianna is smart, beautiful, and more adorable than a box of kittens," Lyndsey continued, "But bullies made her life hell last year. She should be starting her junior year in high school but had the smarts and test scores to start college, so her parents pushed her to begin college early where the student body would be," here Lyndsey rolled her eyes, "more mature".

"Her parents managed to get her in the NOPE house where she would be surrounded by sisters to watch out for her and support her," pointed out Candace. "Rhi hasn't even turned sixteen yet!" Candace gave Ron a glare that Ron assumed was suitable for a child molester.

"Then **you** showed up," added May, "Fixed her breakfast, remembered what she liked, then made it for her without asking the next morning, and rescued her from a bunch of guys hitting on her."

"So, even though all of us have told her that you're not on the market as a boyfriend," Lyndsey said, "she seems to be totally entranced by you. Surely you've noticed that she sticks to you like a limpet in the **THREE** classes you two have together? Didn't you wonder why a general studies student is taking anatomy?"

"Well, I…" Ron started.

"Hey! Hey! A guy can't listen if his lips are moving! No talking! Listen!" declared Margaret, raising the Finger of Doom again.

"And when she is where you can't see it, the heart on her tattoo says 'Stoppable'!" continued Lindsey.

"So, Ron, what are you going to do about it?", demanded May.

"I suppose…" Ron attempted to speak.

"Wait just a minute here!" interrupted Crystal, "Are you accusing Ron of improper behavior? I didn't know Ron all that well, but I never ever saw or heard of him acting improperly to any woman when we were in high school."

"No, we have no accusations against Ron, we are just concerned that dangling an adorably cute, flirty Rhi in front of a guy like Ron is like dangling raw meat in front of a wolf," said Margaret.

"OK, I have heard your concerns." Ron said, "As you have said, I am off the market and belong to Kim, one hundred percent, body and soul. I swear that I will try my best to neither take advantage of Rhi, nor string her along, nor make her feel rejected and sad. I'm not quite sure how to do that, but I'm sure that you all will tell me if I need to change my ways."

"Now, I'm willing to let you all take me to Tippy's Taco to show me that there are no hard feelings. Anybody up for that?" Ron grinned at his lynch mob.

Lyndsey, Jessica, and Crystal had time and agreed to meet after a shower and change of clothes. Jessica held Ron back as the others headed for the locker room.

"So, little brother, how does it feel to be a 'guy' now?" Jessica managed to get out before dissolving in a fit of giggles.

Ron thought a minute and laughed, "Pretty damned good, Jess. Pretty damned good."

 _ **Chris's Karate**_

Ron parked his bike at the little strip mall and walked over to meet Antubi Noratu, a transfer student from Yamanouchi that Ron had met during a summer session in Japan. Ron followed Antubi into a simple building with a modest sign on the front that simply said "Chris's Karate". Walking into the reception area, Ron saw trophy cases and a small area with training gear and tee shirts for sale. Sitting at a desk was a tall muscular, blond-haired man, perhaps late 30's. As he was busy on the phone, Ron and Antubi wandered over to look at training gear and trophies.

"I'm surprised that you didn't want to practice Wing Chung and Tai Sheng Pek Kwar. Especially with all the lovely new NOPE students at Li Quin's place," Antubi grinned at Ron.

Ron grimaced, "There is too much of a good thing, ya know. Besides, some of my sisters think that Rhi is crushing on me and warned me not to mess with her or break her heart. I'm not sure, but I think that physical violence was threatened. So, I think a guy's night out on a regular basis is in order. Three Karate classes a week should help. Besides, Kim's the only one for me. I mean really, can you imagine me going around breaking hearts? I can't."

"Too bad, Rhi is a real cutie and smart too." Antubi pointed out, "Actually, I've been attending their class on Wednesdays and Fridays. I've been getting to know Carlynn. She's pretty, seems nice and I suspect that the 'Ron is a testosterone-driven caveman' silliness is just an act. Well, mostly an act."

"Carlynn? Seriously?" snorted Ron.

"Seriously. Rhi is working hard on transferring Tai Sheng Pek Kwar from an MMP provided skill to her permanent muscle memory. Carlynn is afraid of letting the MMP control her in any way, so yours truly can step in and provide personal instruction." Antubi said with a bit of smugness.

"I bet that Rhi is pulling on the blue outside of MMP class a lot," he continued "maybe that is why she always seems to need you to charge her back up with MMP."

"That makes sense," Ron replied, "she always seems low on power and she stores more than anyone else I have ever charged."

The man at the desk hung up the phone. Breaking into a smile he called out, "Hey Antubi, you're a little early for class. Is this a new student?"

Ron held out his hand, "Sensei, I'm Ron Stoppable, I am looking to study traditional Korean martial arts."

The blond stood up and shook Ron's hand, "Well, Mr. Stoppable, you've come to the right place. I'm Master Chris Gray. I and my instructors are the best in this town for Karate. What experience have you had?"

Ron replied "None in Karate, some Aikido, some Wing Chun and a little Tai Sheng Pek Kwar."

Chris laughed, "Antubi, you've brought me another damned Monkey Kung Fu ringer like you?"

Antubi grinned then bowing said, "Master Gray, we are both honest in our wish to study Karate. Besides, the estrogen level in 'Li Quin's School of Anything Goes Martial Arts' is getting pretty high these days."

Chris nodded, "I had lunch with Li yesterday. Apparently, they have a new class made up entirely of students studying Tai Sheng Pek Kwar. Pretty odd that there are that many people around campus that want to learn an obscure style of Kung Fu."

"Probably due to some new anime or kid's TV show," suggested Antubi.

"I do want to study a hard style, Master Gray," said Ron.

"OK, Antubi, show Ron to the locker room and get changed. I'll grab Warner and we'll check Ron out a bit before the next class. We'll test his skills with a little light sparring."

Quickly changing, Ron and Antubi came out to the exercise area. Reflexively, they bowed to the flags and to the mat. Seeing Chris Grey talking to another black belt they walked over and bowed with Antubi saying "Master Warner Klein, allow me to present my good friend Ron Stoppable. Ron, this is Master Klein."

"Mr. Stoppable," said the massive instructor who looked much more like an NFL linebacker than a Karate instructor, "Master Gray tells me that you have studied Wing Chun. What forms have you studied?"

"Sir," replied Ron, "I only claim a basic proficiency with the first three forms, I am starting to work on the fourth, the one with the wooden dummy."

"And I understand you also know some Aikido and Monkey Kung Fu?"

"Yes sir," Ron admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, "my Aikido is not pure, I modified it to focus on the use of things in my environment as weapons."

"Your environment as a weapon?" Warner was thinking that this guy was some self-taught faker, but then Mr. Noratu had claimed earlier that Mr. Stoppable was a pretty good martial artist.

"Yes sir, things like steps, doors, chairs, tables, stuff like that to put multiple attackers down quickly," said Ron.

"You ever been in a multiple attacker situation?"

"Yes sir," Ron put his hands down at his side and looked Warner in the eye, "I assist Kim Possible in her missions and watch her back."

Warner wondered if the stories he had heard of "Kim Possible and her Sidekick" might have some basis in reality. He continued, "And how good is your Kung Fu?". asked Warner.

"My Tai Sheng Pek Kwar skill varies from time to time. That is hard to explain. Perhaps we could move to the sparring now? That'd demonstrate my skills better than me talking about them. What are the rules?"

Warner broke out in a huge smile, "Light touch only, I'd like to see your Wing Chun, but any technique is acceptable. No blows or touches above the shoulders, no joint locks." He walked to the middle of the mat, turned to Ron and pointed to the mat in front of him. Ron walked over with Chris stepping to the side, saying, "This is a match to show us your technique, Mr. Stoppable, not for points. Ready?" Chris looked at the pair and then said, "Begin!" [A/N that was in deference to 'newbie' Ron, normally, I believe they say "Sijak" instead.] (Sijak is appropriate if it is Korean, to stop; kumon {come on}, kasak means stop…Larry)

Ron found that while Master Klein looked like an NFL linebacker, he was amazingly light on his feet. Because the weight trainers Ron had been working with stressed that building "unenhanced strength" made "enhanced strength" even better, he was not pulling on the blue. As a result, he was definitely not in control of this match.

Warner had two things he wanted to find out. First, did Ron have enough control to hit softly for sparring with the less experienced students. And second, he wanted to check out Ron's Wing Chun skills.

Warner's experience with the few Wing Chun artists he knew, was that they tended to like to work closer in than the Tae Kwon Do Masters he had worked with. Wing Chun stressed on not over-committing to any move so that an attack could be changed to a block in mid-execution and vice versa. It had kicks, but not the longer-range spinning, jumping and flying kicks found in Tae Kwon Do.

Warner ran down his mental lists of techniques, applying them to Ron to test his blocking and response time. He found Ron was fast and was delighted when Ron got an occasional touch on him even when he didn't leave Ron an intentional opening.

Deciding he had seen enough, Warner moved in on Ron with a punch to his gut. Ron responded by moving in even closer. Warner then felt a rapid-fire stream of kitten-soft hits travel up his stomach and chest, before Ron delivered three soft punches to Warner's abdomen. All delivered before the senior martial artist could disengage or block.

"Stop!" cried Chris. Students had wandered in, ready to start class and many applauded as the two combatants bowed and shook hands.

"That was very interesting, Mr. Stoppable," said Warner, "can you stick around after class to talk?"

"Certainly, Master Klein," replied Ron.

After about forty-five minutes of cardio, the instructors then led the class in technique drills. They finished the lesson by dividing the class into pairs for attack-block-counterattack practice.

Ron was paired up with Tommy, a boy that appeared to be maybe fourteen? Wearing a blue belt, he was clean and sharp in his moves, quick to offer suggestions to Ron without being big-heady about it.

When Ron slipped up and did the wrong block, Tommy said, "That's not Tae Kwon Do."

"Sorry, I slipped up, that was a Wing Chun move," replied Ron.

"Wow, you've studied Wing Chun, like Bruce Lee?"

"That's the story, but now I want to study Korean Karate. You know, like Chuck Norris." Ron replied with a grin.

Tommy corrected Ron, "Norris took Tang So Do in Korea when he was stationed there, that's one of the reasons he got so good, over there it's taught like Tae Kwon Do."

"Gentlemen, less chatter, more Karate, please," chided Chris as he wandered by checking the student's form.

After the class was over, Ron sat at the edge of the mat waiting to talk to the instructors. His mind wandered to a time in the future when he would be looking at a young American Indian child dressed in a cute little Gi. In his imagination, he asked, "So, Booth-chan, what shall we study today? The art of Bruce Lee, or the art of the Monkey King?" The small child bowed respectfully and gravely replied "Teach me to be like Chuck Norris, Ron-sensei. It has been said that he once had a knife fight and the knife lost…"

 _ **MMP Class**_

The next day, Ron changed into gym clothes and walked into the free weight area to wait for class to start. "MMP Study and Practice" started with forty-five minutes of weight training under the direction of instructors who believed that one lifted weights to make your body not just stronger, but more resistant to injury.

Nova had recently started them working on "pulling the blue" to increase their endurance and strength. The trainers had decisively demonstrated from the beginning that you can't enhance what you don't have and had been working on building their honest strength in the class. Even Nova worked out. It was still early in the semester, but the class was steadily increasing in strength as recorded on their trainer's clipboards. Ron's extra exercise was keeping his five classmates charged with MMP.

Ron had been surprised to see Carlynn show up to the class and ask very politely if he would enable her to take the class by providing her with the required MMP.

Carlynn now considered Ron as a somewhat tame, well-meaning, testosterone-soaked, caveman. When Yori had used the 'Call of the Wind Chimes' on her, her inability to think rationally because of the monkey's steadily increasing screaming terrified her. She might not like Ron, but she wanted to help ensure that Ron's only mental impairment was testosterone.

Antubi Noratu was fluent in reading Japanese and Chinese text and was the class expert for translating ancient scrolls about the MMP. He also had studied _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_ as taught by Yamanouchi which let him and Ron compare that style against the MMP's style.

Jessica was there because she figured she needed to know about this as Ron's Manager/Advocate.

And then there was Rhianna. She had just shown up to class with a change slip, Nova had no idea how she convinced her counselor to sign it. She turned out to be amazing with respect to using MMP. It was like her body, mind, and spirit were made with using the MMP in mind. In fact, early in the class, Rhianna slipped up in pulling the blue and pulled all the MMP, screaming monkeys and all. It took Ron, Antubi, and Nova in wolf form to stop her without hurting anyone. Once they had managed to get her down from her "MMP rampage high", the first words out of her mouth was "That was so cool!".

Ron was talking to one of the trainers, Jan Alexander, a little before class was scheduled to start when Rhianna bounced over next to him, turned her back to him and chirped, "Do me, please."

Ron rolled his eyes and started to put his hands where her neck met her shoulder, but paused to ask, "OK to touch you?"

Rhianna sighed, "They talked to you, didn't they? Yes, Ron, you can touch me. Jeez, how's a girl supposed to get laid around here with that bunch running all the hot guys off?" Getting no response from Ron, she continued, "I'm sorry Ron, that was supposed to be funny. I know that you and Kim are tight, I'm not trying to seduce you or even seriously flirt with you. I'll get Jessica to work up a skin privileges agreement, OK? Can we be good friends at least?"

Ron laid his hands on Rhianna and let the MMP flow into her. "Good friends, for sure," he said even though a small voice told him to run away screaming. "Skin privileges?", the conversation _now_ catching up to him.

"Yeah, I read it in a book. It's an agreement on how much and where touching is allowed between people who have a bond of some sort. Like the bonds between wolves in a wolfpack," answered Rhianna.

"Would that happen to be a romance book and a werewolf pack?" Ron asked.

"Maybe…" Rhianna laughed.

Ron finally felt her skin under his fingers grow warm…sometimes he swore her legs were hollow with respect to MMP.

"If you two are ready, let's get started with some stretches. Today we are introducing the rear foot elevated split squat," said Jan, who had been doing her best to ignore the chatter between these two. "Let's see if we can build up those skinny butts you all have," the trainer added.

After the workout, they adjourned to a meeting room in the gym for the class. They didn't bother showering and getting into street clothes as Nova's MMP drills could be quite strenuous.

Today, after some _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_ Katas for a warm-up, they were pouring over computer generated translations of very old Chinese and Japanese scrolls. Antubi had spent the last few days trying to clean up the translations but wasn't able to make heads or tails out of some sections.

Nova, frustrated about contradictions the class was seeing in the copies of the scrolls they were going over, said "Screw these musty old scrolls, let's go talk to the source. Anybody want to go visit Kala the MMP Avatar?"

Recently, Ron had been able to contact the Avatar and jump to its mystical forest at will. Today the Avatar seemed distressed and it was an effort to jump and pull everyone with him.

Ron sat with his back against a fallen tree in Kala's mystical forest with Nova's wolf's head in his lap and most of the wolf's body across Rhianna who was sitting next to him. Probably not the most appropriate student and teacher interaction, but her wolf really liked to be petted, particularly scratched behind the ears and wanted to look as non-threatening as possible. Because Kala was afraid, Ron couldn't see her but could feel her fear.

Ron called out, "Kala? Hey, big momma, come talk to us, I'd like you to meet Nova Olson and my friends. Nova's a friend also and a great teacher. They are helping me learn about the MMP and we were hoping…"

A Lowardian woman stepped out of the trees. She seemed delicate and fragile somehow even though she was taller than Ron by at least a head and was heavily muscled. Like Warmonga, her skin was green, but her eyes were solid amber and her hair was dark blue, almost black and done in a loose French braid. She wore a cream-colored flowing skirt that fell below her knees and a dark red tunic with oriental looking embroidery that came down to mid-thigh. The wolf started to move and Ron reflexively grabbed its ruff to hold it in place.

"Kala?"

"Paksairlea. My name is really Paksairlea." Tears filled her eyes.

Feeling the wolf relax, Ron released it and held out his arms asking, "What? No 'My child'? Have I been demoted?"

The Avatar collapsed into Ron's lap, almost sitting on the wolf. Ron held her tightly while her frame was wracked with sobs. Ron saw a shower of sparkles and then Nova in human form was on the Avatar's other side with her arms wrapped around them both.

Stunned, the others stood by feeling helpless, not knowing what to do.

 _ **Chaos**_

"Ron!" Chaos called, "Come in, have a seat." Ron came in, shutting the door. He walked to the chair in front of the desk and sat.

"What's up, man?" Chaos thought that Ron looked heavily stressed, nearly a wreck in fact.

"When I got the MMP, it came with an Avatar. It wouldn't talk to me at first. I guess that was my fault, I didn't believe that I deserved it. But Kim believed in me and could talk to it and eventually I could talk to it. It was sort of like I had this imaginary friend that only we could see."

"What did it tell you?" Chaos wouldn't have believed this from just anybody, but he knew that Team Possible had been through some seriously "weird shit".

"She tried to help us. Almost like we were her children." Ron replied.

"She?" asked Chaos.

"Her form was that of a female Mangani. They were the giant apes that found Tarzan as a baby and raised and protected him. Her name was Kala. Kim saw a little kitten instead. It seemed like a kitten with an attitude." Ron explained.

"Cats with attitude seems normal to me." Chaos smiled, then became serious. "So, there is a problem with the Avatar?" he asked.

"She's not a real Avatar, she's a slave. First, she was bound to the jade in the statues. She was what made it possible for the statues to hold the MMP power and energize people with it. When the statues shattered and Rufus and I got the MMP, she became bound to me. Lately, her memory is getting better. She now remembers being sacrificed in some ceremony. She also remembers that before the ceremony, she was a Lowardian researcher examining tales of mystical weapons and mystically enhancing warriors to protect their communities."

"Lowardian? Like the aliens that you and Kim fought?"

"Yeah, Paksairlea, that's her real name, said she sent a bunch of reports back on a message missile or something, but nobody ever replied or came looking for her as far as she knew. Maybe the ones we fought found her reports and came looking for the MMP?" Ron guessed.

"So, what's your plan? Can't see you keeping a slave." Chaos said.

"We don't know how to free her," Ron sounded miserable, "She is remembering more and more details, but there are still gaps. She believes that the MMP trapped her in the jade just like she trapped the MMP in the jade. Maybe if I can be totally drained of the MMP, she can be popped loose. No idea if her body will magically appear or whether we have to provide her with one. She thinks that she remembers that the ceremony that enslaved her didn't leave her body behind. I figure all I can do is let Rhianna Pimm and her search old memories until we get something to try. Unless you have an email address for the Monkey King."

"Rhianna? That's the girl you did the extraction of, right?" Chaos asked, "Why her?"

"She seems to have a talent for using the MMP, and the Avatar and she are now BFFs." Ron answered, "Which is uncomfortable for me on several levels. First is the fact that the Avatar remembers pretty much everything anybody who was ever charged with her MMP, saw or heard. Which means that the Avatar remembers pretty much everything I saw or heard in the time since I got the MMP from the jade statues. That is what Rhi is helping the Avatar dig through."

"Everything?" Chaos grinned wickedly, remembering how Ron and Kim had been glued together at the hip back at Slim's ranch and repeated, "Everything?"

Huffing, "The lady had no complaints about my performance," Ron said primly. Ron sighed as Chaos laughed. "But what else can I do, Chaos? The Avatar is my friend and has been enslaved for several hundred years."

"Well, if you know anything I can do to help, let me know, OK?" Chaos said, "But be careful and don't rush it. It sounds like this could be dangerous. Speaking of dangerous, it looks like you came back with your shield from yesterday's encounter with the girls after our treadmill session. What was that about?"

"Some of my sisters think that I am a danger to young Miss Pimm's virtue," Ron grinned, "They accused me of being a typical 'guy' who will snap at the bait of a flirty Rhi."

"And are you?" asked Chaos.

"Well, I am a guy, but I'm Kim's guy. Rhi told me before weight training today that she knows that Kim and I are a pair and just wants to be friends." Ron replied.

"You've got to be careful Ron," Chaos pointed out, "No matter what anybody says, if something goes wrong, if Rhi can't just be friends and gets heartbroken, or, heaven forbid," here Chaos grinned, "her virtue gets 'besmirched'," Chaos grew serious again, "it will be your fault. Even if she strips naked, covers herself in melted nacho cheese, and jumps you carrying a bag of chips, it will be your fault. Because you're the guy."

"Yeah, that's the impression I got from the sisters," Ron said, "Kim's the only girl I think could do that and it'd not be my fault."

"And why's that?"

"Kim's tough enough that nobody does anything with her that she doesn't want." Ron replied, "Not even me."

 _ **Recovering (again)**_

Kim drowsed in her bed wrapped in golden sheets. She had received a severe butt-chewing by Eir on the need to get checked out by a 'Real Healer' and not to just depend on magical apple slices. Eir said her spleen was shattered and took her hours to put it back together. Eir claimed that had it been Thor or Loki, she would have just had the dwarves make a replacement organ. She said, that since holding Mjöllnir caused such drastic changes to her body, that repairing her original organs seemed to be the safest.

Kim had drifted in and out of sleep, forever it seemed. She would just wake, start to get up and then Eir would walk in, help her walk to the bathroom while complaining of 'idiot warriors', then lead her back to her bed, touch her forehead, and Kim would be asleep again.

Mostly it was a sound, dreamless sleep. But once she had a dream…

* * *

Strong fists pounded down on her shoulder armor, ensuring the pieces were properly set in place.

"How's that?" asked the young Priest of Rama.

Kim did a cartwheel and a backflip. Feeling that everything stayed in place, she replied, "Much better. Thanks for helping me adjust my armor, Rob." Oops, what was his name? Rob? Roger? Ralph? Ron? That was it, Ron.

"Sorry, I meant Ron," she apologized.

"No problem, Lady Kim." the Priest grinned, "Usually people just say 'Necromancer' and then spit on the ground."

They had gotten up to find that their traveling companions, a pair of Zakarum Crusaders and a Sahptev Monk, had set off without them. They left a note explaining that for this last push against a Prime Evil, they would be more effective without having to watch over an 'Archer and her little Necromancer friend'.

Ron had looked hurt and Kim looked angry. Actually, she always looked angry. Coming home from a stint of service as a castle guard to find her village burned and her mother, father and two brothers slaughtered had given her a goodly supply of hatred.

Although most sane people would rather deal with an attractive young warrior woman than a Necromancer, in this case, the perma-glare on her face made Ron the best choice for dealing with the townsfolk. Checking with the innkeeper of the inn where they had all spent the night, Ron found that she had no idea which direction their missing companions had gone. She did, however, beg the two to hunt to the north for a group of demons that had been attacking farmers the last few days, repeating the tales she had heard from survivors that had fled to her inn looking for safety.

After collecting a few supplies for the trip, the two headed off to the north. Once out of the village, Lady Kim whistled and a large, dirty-gray colored wolf trotted up, walking between the two. Drawing her sword, a medium length, curved blade with a lotus blossom engraved on it, she held it up and the gleaming steel split into pieces. Steel bolts appeared and flew into her crossbow and quiver as well as daggers that flew into sheaths on her belt.

Walking down the tree-lined road they came across an old bridge crossing a small stream. On the other side, they came to a cemetery. Ron paused and held out his hand. A half-dozen graves erupted and skeletons carrying swords appeared and fell in behind them.

"Ron," Kim asked a question that she had been wanting to ask him after their first battle but it was too awkward when they were walking with holy warriors, "Have you ever raised a skeleton from someone you know?"

There was a long pause. "My sister," he softly replied, "I was going home to visit and she snuck out to meet me on the road. She ran into a bandit raiding party. I don't know why they didn't hold her for ransom. I can't think of any reason for them to kill a young girl. I didn't take time to ask them, I killed them all and she provided the first skeleton warrior."

"I'm sorry," said Kim, adding his grief to her vast supply of hatred and lust for vengeance.

Kim walked on, her head swiveling as she scanned for threats. She saw the wolf bump up against her companion's leg. With a grin, he reached down to give it a scratch behind its ears. He had told her that he became a Priest of Rama to help restore balance to the world. That there would always be both good and evil, but now evil was getting help from demons. Kim thought that keeping a balance sounded nice in abstract, but in reality, she couldn't stand by and allow the kind of evil that had so brutally destroyed her family to survive. She had told him that she was powered by hatred for evil, and that was true. She could even become Vengeance Incarnate for short periods of time. Ron had seen her do that, and she thought that scared him. Supposedly, few things scared a Priest of Rama. This Priest has several odd fears. For example, he was afraid of tiny spiders, but oddly didn't blink an eye the time they cleared a cavern of spiders the size of ponies.

They continued walking north, the trail they followed now leading them past pastures and unharvested fields. Getting close to noon, the Priest insisted on a "snackage" break. When she started to protest about the delay, he retorted with a grin, "Hey, I can't restore balance on an empty stomach and I bet that it's hard for you to keep that ball of hatred rolling when your stomach is growling."

They sat under a tree eating bread, cheese, and smoked sausage. The wolf could recognize a soft touch just as well as the evil dead. Watching the wolf stare with big, sad eyes at the Necromancer's food until he relented and gave the wolf some of his lunch, made her actually smile and pushed her hatred down to a quiescent level.

Her companion seemed like a nice person, slow to anger, quick to find humor in, well, pretty much anything. She wondered if there was another road that they could have taken, a road that didn't start with the death of those she loved. A road where they could have been friends and maybe even partners in life instead of partners in death.

No, she decided, she didn't pick this life any more than she could imagine her teammate with his child-like sense of wonder and joy picking to be a Priest of Rama. Evil had stolen their choices in life, and set them both on this road. That thought brought her hatred bubbling back up. Taking a drink of water from her bottle she stood up, brushing off crumbs from lunch. Looking at the young man scratching the wolf's belly, she said, "Come on, let's be about it."

It was about another two hours down the road when they first detected the faint smell of smoke in the air.

When the wolf snarled about a half hour later, Kim held her crossbow out to Ron, asking, "Please and thank you."

Ron took a dagger, cut his hand and dripped blood onto the weapon. Kim cocked the crossbow which was now glowing a soft blue with a sickly yellow vapor dripping off of it. With Ron's life essence on it, that would be the last time she would need to cock it manually for hours. Using the bolts made from the Lotus blade, the weapon was basically auto-reloading and auto-cocking with a six-bolt clip. The 'Lotus Bolts' would shatter inside the target with the pieces reforming back into a bolt as they flew back to the crossbow.

They made a wide circle around a burning church. Since neither were heavily armored, they preferred not to be surprised up close. Behind the church they discovered the innkeeper, her soft brown eyes now glowing red, her body bleeding from terrible wounds, her clothes torn and disheveled. She was standing next to a large crevice ripped in the earth. At her feet lay the bodies of their companions. Dozens of ghouls with red flames flickering over their skin were feasting on their flesh along with the flesh of fallen demons. Taking a quick glance at the area, they saw two huge slain demons and the bodies of dozens upon dozens of lesser demons.

The innkeeper shrieked an inhuman laughter, "It appears that someone told your colleagues that you were headed north to scout out a report of a Prime Evil."

Kim bumped Ron with an armored shoulder. "Corpse explosion?" she growled.

"On it," Ron replied.

While the innkeeper was going on about something or other that, quite frankly, Kim had no interest in listening to, she pointed her crossbow up to the sky and shot off the entire clip of bolts. Pulling out her spare clip, she slammed it home and took off toward the innkeeper. Her body became wreathed in a black-tinged fire as Kim embraced the ball of hatred that she carried instead of a heart. She became the Incarnation of Vengeance.

The innkeeper grinned to herself and signaled for her troops. A hundred or more demon troopers scrambled over the edge of the crevice and charged the young woman. Kim focused on the innkeeper trying to get it to change back to its true form. Where normally, she could get off six shots per resting heartbeat, now she fired twenty-four flame-enhanced shots in the same amount of time. In addition, her excess hatred manifested itself as demon-seeking globes that exploded on contact. Drilling into the innkeeper, her bolts stripped the very flesh off its body.

With a burst of light, a twenty-foot tall Prime Evil appeared. Kim didn't know which one, and she didn't care, she just kept firing into its center. When a group of demon troopers got too close, Kim's belt exploded, sending out daggers to drive them back.

A crossbow bolt that was fired up comes back down to earth at the same speed it was initially fired at. Each Lotus Bolt had split into one hundred small bolts on the way down and many selected Demon Troopers as targets. The rest selected the large twenty-foot tall target.

With her bolts arriving from the sky like a Rain of Vengeance, Kim reversed course, and in a combination of cartwheels, flips, and just running while dodging demonic fireballs, she made it back to Ron relatively unscathed.

Ron threw out his hands towards the demons as the bolts struck home. Many demons needed more than a handful of small bolts to kill them, yet a few died. As those died, Ron's curse activated and their bodies exploded killing the wounded demons next to them. Then those demons exploded. Explosions cascaded all across the field and when the smoke cleared the only thing moving was the big demon struggling to stand. [1]

Skeletons appeared from some of the corpses and random body parts connected themselves together to create a ten-foot tall golem. Together, they mobbed the demon and with the help of Kim's ordinary crossbow bolts, the demon fell to the ground. With a blinding flash, the demon exploded, showering the pair with bone fragments and fleshy bits. Walking to the smoking crater, they saw a glowing crystal. Kim felt her hatred start to recover and was about to find out just how tough the crystal was when a glowing white portal appeared and a massive Angel stepped through.

"Lady Kim," the Angel boomed, "Well done, hero. You have stopped the last of the Prime Evils, even with the handicap of this buffoon Priest. I will take their essence crystals and put them in a safe place." The angel held two other crystals in its hand.

"Don't think so," Kim pointed her crossbow at the crystal on the ground, hatred powering her shift into the Incarnation of Vengeance.

Ron suddenly stepped between Kim and the Angel. A fiery sword blade stuck out from his chest. "You imbecile, you can't stop the Will of Heaven!" cried the Angel and swung the sword to the side, Ron's body sliding off of it to the ground.

Kim brought the crossbow to bear on the Angel and poured her hatred into the attack. It staggered under the stream of bolts and started to raise its sword when a skeleton pinned its arms back. Even Angelic Armor could not long withstand Kim's rage and hatred, and eventually, the Angel crumpled to the ground, dead. Kicking the two crystals it dropped into the crater with the third, Kim poured a continuous stream of fiery bolts and explosive blobs of concentrated hate into the crater. Just as her hatred was exhausted, she saw the three crystals deform and start to crack.

The skeleton pulled Kim away from the crater, raised its hand and the crater exploded with a flash of multicolored light. Peeking back in the crater, she saw no trace of the crystals remained.

Her hatred temporarily spent, she looked at the skeleton with sad wonderment. "You raised a skeleton from your own corpse?" she said. When the skeleton nodded, she asked, "How long do you have?" A shrug was the reply.

'Is it really too late to turn away from this road?' she wondered. As a brand-new lieutenant of the Castle Guards, she had been excited about serving Justice. But then her family's murder happened and things changed. Mjöllnir had abandoned her when she forsook Justice in favor of Vengeance. The Lotus Blade was happy to serve Vengeance, so she had taken it and started down the road of a Demon Hunter.

No, she decided, Justice could not be recaptured, Mjöllnir was forever lost to her and once again, she was alone. She took comfort in the thought that she was close to the end of this road and if not peace, then oblivion would be her final reward.

Her recovering level of hatred began to push all softer thoughts from her mind. She didn't know about the need for any balance between good and evil, but she now had Rog's death to avenge and there was an open portal right here to take her to where she might get started.

Whistling for the wolf, she said, "Come on, Rob, let's go balance heaven."

A wolf and an animated skeleton followed the figure of Vengeance wreathed in black-tinged fire into the open portal.

Stepping out of the portal, she immediately encountered two Angels. Tall, beautiful and highly offended that she 'dared to do something or other'. Frankly, Vengeance didn't stop to listen but just cut them down the moment they raised a weapon.

Scanning for new targets, she felt the skeleton put his hands on her shoulders and drain away her hatred. "KP? KP? Wake up honey, you are having a nightmare."

* * *

Kim struggled to consciousness. She was drenched in sweat and opened her eyes to see Ron holding her shoulders looking concerned. Kim blinked her eyes. No, it wasn't Ron, it was Loki? She rubbed her wrist, her friendship bracelet had gotten uncomfortably warm.

"Loki, what are you doing here? Is there an emergency I need to help with?" Kim mumbled, not fully awake yet.

"But it's me, Ro…" Loki started to say something but then smoothly changed topics, "I was walking by on the way to the dining hall and I heard you crying out in your sleep. I just came in to check on you and see if I could offer assistance or comfort."

"Thanks, but I'm OK, it was just a dream," Kim replied.

"Maybe I could help take your mind off the nightmare…" Loki smoothly began.

"Loki, leave Lady Kim alone," Eir, walking into the room, interrupted, "I just spent hours putting her insides back together, you mess that up by poking her before she is fully healed and I will rearrange your insides."

"Very well, Eir. Call out if you need anything, Lady Kim," offered Loki, "If I am in the great hall, I will hear you." Loki patted her shoulder and left the room slightly annoyed that this didn't go as planned.

"Did I hear Loki say you had a dream?" asked Eir.

"Yeah, he said I was screaming, but I don't remember screaming in the dream," replied Kim.

"Let me help you to the bathroom and you can tell me about it afterward," said Eir. After helping Kim walk to the bathroom to relieve herself, sponge off the sweat from her skin and slip on a fresh nightshirt, Eir brought Kim back to her bed. Standing by the bed was a woman that she didn't recognize.

"Eir, I put fresh sheets on her bed," said the woman, "Lady Kim, my name is Sigyn, Loki is my husband. I thought I would drop in and say hello."

"Lady Sigyn," replied Kim, "Pleased to meet you, but you just missed Loki. He said he heard me crying out in a dream and came in to see if I needed help."

"Just call me Sigyn, child. And, yes, that sounds like my ever-helpful Loki," Sigyn replied, "Did I mention that he was my husband?"

"Yes, my lady, you did," replied Kim totally missing the fire in Sigyn's eyes because she was looking at the goblet of cold water that Eir was handing her.

"Tell us about your dream," Eir said wisely changing the subject. "Sometimes they are more than just the mind making up stories."

Kim told the two about her dream

The two women were excellent listeners, only interrupting occasionally:

Q: "Do you often forget your boyfriend's name?"  
A: "No, people who don't really know him sometimes get his name confused, but I don't. The scary part was that I was so focused on Vengeance that I didn't care enough about him to remember his name."

Q: "Where is the Lotus Blade now?"  
A: "I think my sister has it."

Q: "Did your boyfriend lose his sister in real life?"  
A: "No, as far as I know, she is fine."

Q: "Did you recognize the innkeeper or any of the Angels?"  
A: "No."

When Kim finished, they asked on final question: "What do you think the dream is trying to tell you?"

There was a pause and Sigyn was sure that Kim had fallen asleep when Kim mumbled, "I think it is telling me that if I an not careful, I will lose everything that is really important. That Ron loves me no matter what and will have my back even after death. I mustn't waste that precious gift."

Eir bent over her patient saying, "Sleep now, my Lady." and touching Kim on her forehead sent her back to sleep.

"Well," asked Eir, "What does all this really mean?"

"My husband is going to cheat on me with this hussy!" hissed Sigyn.

"Well, yes, he is," replied Eir, "but I meant the dream. What does the dream mean?"

"Not sure," admitted Sigyn. "I will go talk to Freya and maybe Verdandi and Skuld [2]. Perhaps she has a strong connection to this boyfriend of hers and he spends a lot of time playing games where he fights Demons and Angels. Perhaps she is correct and it is a warning to her not to let vengeance take over her life. Or maybe it is a warning to us that Lady Kim is a god-killer and that we shouldn't mess with her. We need to get her back to Midgard. Let them deal with her."

* * *

(Early the next day)

Not quite awake, Kim gave an experimental wiggle of her body and found that everything moved without pain.

She decided that as soon as Eir released her, she was going to say her goodbyes and go home to Ron. Smiling, she remembered Freya's advice and was going to have Ron 'lay her like tile'. She was going to trust in the contraceptive qualities of the magic apples and if they failed, then that was OK also. She was so sick of battle, death, and destruction that right now, an eighteen-year-long break from it sounded acceptable.

* * *

Finally, after being declared as "mostly healed" and cleared for "light duty, and **no fighting giants** " by Eir, Kim wandered down a hallway towards the dining hall, thinking of who all she needed to say goodbye to when…

"Lady Kim! Good to see you up and about"

"Hi Loki, Hi Thor, I'm feeling much better."

"Join us for breakfast."

1) Kim's dream is inspired by Blizzard's Diablo 3 with the new Necromancer Expansion. Yes, I know that this is not the way Corpse Explosion really works.

2) The Norns of the _Ah! My Goddess_ anime are pretty straightforward. Urd is concerned with the past, Belldandy (Verdandi) is concerned with the present and Skuld is concerned with the future. Sort of. In reading Norse and Germanic references on the Norns and Yggdrasil, things get pretty strange when the concept of cyclical time turns them from corresponding to past, present, and future to past, present, and "necessity". Let's stick with the anime version as cyclical time seems to mess with my concept of destiny and prophecy. Google "YGGDRASIL AND THE WELL OF URD" and look for a page from "norse-mythology DOT org " if you want to see what I am referring to.


	9. Time to get up and go

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable editing on parts of this story. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

Any appearance or mention of Wanda Wang and/or Suzie Chin are thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in his epic "Once Again" story arc.

Antubi Noratu appears also thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in "The Hunter: Book One"

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **The Offer**_

After being declared as "mostly healed" and cleared for "light duty, and **no fighting giants** " by Eir, Kim wandered down a hallway towards the dining hall, thinking of who all she needed to say goodbye to when she heard…

"Lady Kim! Good to see you up and about."

"Hi Loki, Hi Thor, I'm feeling much better."

"Join us for breakfast."

"Sure," Kim figured these two were as good as anyone to start with on her good-byes.

Dropping in beside them, they all started down the hallway.

"Uh, guys, isn't the dining hall the other way?" Kim pointed out.

"Yes, it is," Thor replied with his ever-present roguish, dashing grin, "But breakfast has been laid out in Loki's rooms for us. We have an offer that we want to discuss with you."

"An offer, but I'm…" Kim started to say that she was leaving soon.

"No, no, just hear us out," said Loki, "give us a chance to talk."

"OK," replied Kim, thinking this was pointless as she had no desire to be a Captain of Freya's troops, but that the two had been nice to her during her stay. Clueless definitely, but she thought they were well-intentioned.

Loki's suite was very nice. They entered into a large area for meetings and entertaining with several couches and a long table with chairs currently set with three places and platters of food, bowls of fruit and pitchers of, Kim assumed, mead. One wall had floor to ceiling glass looking out on a huge balcony with a beautiful view of the countryside.

Kim sat at the table, seeing nothing to drink but mead, she selected some fruit and was cutting slices while her hosts piled food high on their plates. "So, what's the sitch?" she asked. Seeing their blank looks, she expanded, "What's the situation, what is your offer?"

Thor's answer was straight to the point. "We are offering you the opportunity to become a goddess."

"Why would I want to be a goddess?" Kim asked.

Once Thor and Loki had picked their jaws off the floor, Thor started to enumerate the reasons:

"There is the gift of immortality of course. But along with the title comes the ability and responsibility to help us rule and defend the realms, servants to take care of all the day to day trivialities, troops to train and lead," Thor explained

"Don't disregard the power that comes with it," Loki added, "You can make decisions that truly make a difference because you can use your power to make things happen. Nobody will gainsay you on what you decide."

"Nobody?" Kim didn't think that sounded right.

"Well, the rest of us will rein in someone getting out of control," admitted Thor, "but over the last few millennia, we've gotten stale and out of touch with the more modern worlds. Lady Kim, we need your enthusiasm, your new ways of looking at things."

"I admit it's an attractive offer, but…" Kim began.

"It is a big decision. Take at least a day to give us your answer," Loki poured on his considerable charm.

"Well, OK, how 'bout I meet you both here in the morning?" Kim said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a couple of tasks I need to do."

"Certainly. In the morning then," Loki and Thor rose and bowed as she got up and left the room.

After getting turned around twice on the maze of halls, Kim finally found Heimdallr on guard at the Bifrost. After relaxing on his cottage's steps in the warm sun for maybe ten minutes, the pale god walked over.

"Lady Kim! How are you?" he boomed, holding out his arms.

Laughing, Kim sprang up and hugged her friend. "I swear, Heimdallr, I think that I will miss you the most," she said.

"Oh really? Rumor is that you keep getting hurt just so you can have an excuse for Eir to put her hands all over you," he teased.

"What! No!" Kim laughed, "Sorry to disappoint, but I have a man on Midgard that I'm really hot to get back to."

"So, you are turning down the offer to become a goddess? I'd think mortals would jump at the chance."

"Well, this mortal's heart is sick from all the death and destruction, and she just wants to go home for whatever lifespan she has left as a mortal."

"You know, my lady, you could make a difference here, perhaps even stop some of the death and destruction that we gods tend to cause by following the old ways."

"I hear you. But I have to heal my spirit before I can even think of trying to make changes to an entire society," Kim explained.

"Are you leaving right now?" he asked.

"No, probably tomorrow. Why? Did you see something? Is Ron in trouble?" Kim worried that Heimdallr wasn't telling her something.

"No, I didn't see him in anything life-threatening or anything like that." he declared.

"OK, then," Kim said, "Could you set up the Bifrost for me so I can visit Brokk and Sindri to say goodbye, please and thank you?"

"My pleasure," he replied.

Kim soon found herself walking down a familiar corridor.

Walking into the workshop she saw Brokk stoking the forge and Sindri working on something small glowing white-hot on the anvil with a shower of sparks flying out with every strike of his hammer.

Not wanting to interrupt something important, Kim waited at the entrance and watched for a good time to speak up.

 _ **Curfew**_

Ron and Rhianna were at a table in his basement bedroom/lair trying to study muscle and tendons associated with the rotator cuff. Jessica sat cross-legged on Ron's bed (neatly made, believe it or not) with BHS binders and study guides spread around her.

The original house rule was no men in the house after 9 pm except for social functions and study groups in the dining hall. "Except for Ron" was added since he was a resident, then Ms. Eisenfaust added the rule that after 9 pm that no young woman could be alone with Ron in any bedroom and particularly not in his lair.

Ron and Rhianna had started studying on the assigned anatomy diagrams in the dining area with the other study groups. However, the large screen TVs were turned on to news channels and all the news was about the ongoing diplomatic meetings with the Lowardians.

The initial panic from the news of their arrival had quickly passed because nothing seemed to happen. There were pictures of eight-foot tall people going in and out of meetings held in hangars on Air Force bases, but that was about it. Not that there weren't lots of people protesting and promoting various causes, controlling the protesters and various marchers at the Air Force base's perimeter was not easy.

There were also talking heads speculating about the heroine/alien abductee Kim Possible and her plucky sidekick Rob Probable, but no one seemed to know where they were or what had happened to them. (The term "plucky" was actually used on the air and Carlynn gleefully added it to her description of Ron. [I hope Carlynn dates one of the sons of Chaos' comrades…It'd serve her right to fall hopelessly in love with a man who will treat her right, defend her and let her do her own thing…and be what she's been trying to castrate with her PC-politics…]) Unable to concentrate, they had grabbed Jessica and fled to the quiet of Ron's basement bedroom, his "lair".

The members of the MMP class had been shocked at the revelation that his friend Kala, the MMP Avatar, was really a Lowardian enslaved to bind the MMP to the jade statues. Paksairlea was remembering bits of the ritual that bound her to the jade. She remembered why she was picked. The Monkey King wanted to have her for a lover and Paksairlea refused his rude demands. Unhappy with being rejected, he picked her to bind the MMP to the jade statues. When the statues had been shattered, the MMP became bound to Ron and Rufus while Paksairlea became bound only to Ron.

Ron stared at the diagram showing how the supraspinatus muscle that helps you raise your arm was tucked just under the scapula bone. He was supposed to understand how that made the area vulnerable to inflammation. But after a minute he realized he really wasn't seeing the diagram and that Rhianna had been talking to him.

"Uh, sorry Rhi, my mind wandered, what did you say?"

"Ron, it will be OK. We will free Leah. You will save her. It's what heroes do and you are a hero." soft blue eyes looked at him with confidence while a cool hand touched him on the arm.

He looked down at his arm. Rhianna's fingers rested lightly across the tattoo of the red heart that was proudly labeled 'KP'. Right now, he desperately wanted that to be Kim's hand, to be Kim's green eyes looking at him. But they weren't.

"I'm not a hero, Rhi. I'm just Ron." Ron softly said.

"But Yori told us all that…" Rhianna protested.

"Yori was wrong. Yori is a true hero in heart and soul; a person who I will treasure for as long as I live, but she is wrong about me being a hero." Ron said, getting up and starting to pace a little.

"When the Lowardians kidnapped KP, she told me to guard the Han and save the world, and I wouldn't do it," Ron continued, "I love the Han and the world is a good place, but it all meant nothing to me without KP. My only goal in the whole Lowardian sitch was to rescue KP. Bishop played me the recording of Yori's speech. She talked about how KP and I chose not to flee but that we chose to fight, to defend the world. Let me tell you what really happened."

Ron stopped pacing, leaned against the desk and continued telling his version of the story, "Shego piloted a rocket-plane we got from Mr. Dr. P and managed to land it on the alien spacecraft. Stumbling around, we ran into KP and Dr. Drakken. From that second forward, my only goal was to get KP off that ship and to safety, no matter if Satan himself barred the way. We fought our way across the ship until we came across flying bikes of some kind and we flew away like devils were behind us. Once we were in the air, I knew we had a chance because KP was free."

Chuckling at himself, he continued, "I never mentioned this to anyone, but during the escape, the male alien flew next to me to taunt me before killing me. A real hero would've hurled defiance back at him! A real hero would've laughed in the face of danger! And what did I do? I told him that I was afraid that KP would go off to college without me and we would drift apart and she would eventually find someone else."

"You didn't!" Rhianna was aghast.

"What did the alien say?" Jessica asked.

"He told me that Warmonga had been leaving him for months at a time chasing down rumors of a 'Great Blue' and now that they knew that it was fake, he figured that she would settle down and be a proper battle mate."

"Wait. Wait. You were having a 'guy talk' with an alien trying to kill you? A 'guy talk' about your girlfriends? Are you serious?" Rhianna looked dubious.

"Serious as a heart attack," Ron replied. "Then he tried to kill me. I got away, and linked up with KP. She found us a place to have the battle since escape was not going to happen. The MMP kicked in hard. The Lotus Blade went to work and I think you've seen the videos. Yori's painted me with the brush of a noble, selfless, Japanese hero and not the brush of Ron Stoppable, the guy who just happened to be there."

"Ron, you know I've picked up a good bit of _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar,_ right?" asked Rhianna.

"Yeah, you have," admitted Ron.

"Antubi was showing Carlynn and me the concept of the one, perfect, final strike," Rhianna continued, "We studied the video of you up to the moment where the alien starts his attack. I saw the look on your face after he told you he was going to kill Kim slowly and then burn this world. You were planning the one, perfect, final strike to save Kim. You didn't expect to survive it. Heck, studying the videos, I didn't expect you to survive it. Then you goaded him until he completely lost his cool and attacked you in a rage."

Rhianna sniffled and continued, "It was your eyes, Ron, I saw in your eyes that you had weighed the cost of your decision and decided that paying for Kim's life with your life was acceptable. You didn't go there expecting to die, but by God, if that was the price for Kim to survive, then you had your checkbook out and ready to pay."

Blue eyes literally glowing with adoration and respect bored into his very soul. She growled quietly, "Now you look me in the eyes and you tell me that you were 'just the guy who happened to be there' and that you're not a big damned hero."

Ron was saved when someone knocked on the doorframe at the top of the stairs going to the kitchen. A face peeked in the open door and a voice asked, "Ron? Are you down there?"

"Yes, Bets, I'm here. What can I do for you?" It wasn't unusual for his housemates to come to his door to talk to him. It might have been due to the fact that his door was in the kitchen and his snack making skills were legendary. Because many of his sisters were calorie conscious, he had lately been experimenting with healthier late-night snacks. For example, in five minutes, he could slice and layer enough tomato and mozzarella with a sprinkling of basil and drizzle of balsamic vinegar reduction to make enough caprese salad for thirty snackers. Give him fifteen minutes and he would have guacamole, chili con queso and toasted tortillas. All from scratch.

"There is a visitor asking for you. She's in the entrance hall."

"Does she have a name?", Ron asked even though he knew he was going to have to go up and see them.

"That's OK, Punkin, I got this. Ronnie, ya decent, at least wearing pants?", called a familiar voice.

"Yeah, I'm decent. Come on down," Ron put aside his notebook and got up.

Shego came down the stairs. Dressed in black jeans and black running shoes with a soft green top, hair tied back in a loose ponytail, Ron thought she had an aura of ease and contentment that she had been missing when he had last seen her as an active supervillain. Of course, she had been battling Kim at the time.

 _ **Inkeri the Weaver**_

Turning to drop the object he had been working on in a bucket of oil to quench it, Sindri noticed Kim patiently standing in the entrance.

"Kim Possible!" he greeted with a huge smile forming on his face, "Welcome! What can Brokk and I do for you?"

Brokk stepped away from the bellows, wiping the sweat from his face with a cloth and also breaking into a smile, "Come meet our new partner!"

Looking around, Kim saw an Elvish woman sitting off to the side at a table away from the forge where it was much cooler. One of the light elves, she thought, every bit as tall as Brokk and Sindri, slenderer in build but still well-muscled. Her skin was alabaster in tone with long hair that was nearly a white blonde. Her features were as fine as the dwarves were coarse.

She rose and politely bowed to Kim, saying "It is good to meet you. I am Inkeri. I have come to assist Brokk and Sindri with the required weaving for their creations."

Looking at her wrist, Kim saw a woven friendship bracelet with a more complex pattern than she had used. "Did you do the weave for that bracelet? It looks very pretty," she said.

The light elf held out her wrist to allow Kim to admire her work more closely. Kim also noticed that Brokk and Sindri each wore a matching bracelet on their wrist next to the one that she had made with them earlier.

"Sindri? Why don't you show Kim our latest prototype?" Inkeri asked.

Sindri walked over to the oil bucket, fished out a multicolored square, wiped off the oil with a cloth, and tossed it to Kim. It looked like a tiny quilt, about the size of the palm of her hand.

"Throw it on the ground," he said, pointing to a large clear space.

Kim did and the square unfolded into what looked like a twelve-foot-long surfboard with a mast, sail and four large wheels.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Kim, "Nice!"

"Stand on it and grab the mast firmly," said Inkeri.

When Kim's hand gripped the mast, the sail filled with air and she even felt a strong breeze start to blow. When she released the mast in surprise, the breeze stopped. Experimenting a little, she discovered that the wheels turned like a skateboard when she put her weight on the side of the board.

"Amazing! How do you fold it up?" she asked.

"Step off of it and pull the little ribbon on the side of the sail," answered Inkeri.

Kim did and within seconds, she was once again holding a small square. When she started to hand it back, Sindri waved her off, saying, "Keep it with our thanks. We once made a full-sized ship, the _Skidbladnir. Y_ ou could fold it up to fit in a pocket, but it needed rare, expensive components and took weeks to make. Using your weaving idea, the three of us working together can make four pocket boats in about a day using common materials. We are thinking to use them for guard patrols and messengers. If you have a road or water, they are faster than a horse and don't need a stable or barn."

"Thank you, you are too kind. You know, it's too bad you don't go to Midgard, I have a friend who is really creative when it comes to making stuff. It would be interesting to see what ideas that he has that you could use."

"I have distant relatives that travel to Midgard, what is his name and what city does he live in?" asked Inkeri.

"Wade Load, Middleton, Colorado, United States, North America, Midgard" replied Kim really hoping that she wasn't making a mistake.

"But I really came to say goodbye, because I am returning home to Midgard. The death and destruction that I have been involved with are wearing down my spirit and I miss my mate." Kim explained.

"That's too bad, we will miss you, Kim Possible. But we understand about the death and destruction part. Killing even evil enemies takes a toll on your soul. Deal with evil enough and you start to see it everywhere," said Sindri.

"Kim Possible, do you have time for me to go try out your pocket boat with you?" asked Inkeri.

"Sure, I wasn't going back to Midgard until tomorrow afternoon," replied Kim, "Is there somewhere close or do we need to travel to Alfheim?"

"No, I think we will go to the Salt Lake," said Inkeri, giving a significant look at Sindri who nodded in agreement.

"I'll fill a couple of waterskins for you," said Brokk walking to the tiny waterfall at the side of the workshop.

"It really is a salt-water lake. You should leave the Hammer here," said Inkeri, rummaging around in a bag and pulling out a simple pull-over shirt. "Change out of your leather and steel armor into this," she added

Kim paused, she did catch the look that Inkeri and Sindri had exchanged. "I don't know if that is a good idea…" she temporized.

"Kim Possible," said Sindri, "Trust me when I tell you that there is no trap and in case of attack, Inkeri is a strong defensive magic user as well as an artist. If you do run into a serious foe then you can just call the Hammer, yes? The salt, iron, and such in the water will ruin your armor."

"OK…" Kim replied, and exchanged her armor for the shirt, taking a belt from Inkeri and belting it like a dress. The shirt fell down well past her knees. Going home where she wasn't always the shortest person in the room would be a nice change.

Kim came out of the bathroom to find the elf dressed similarly, having taken off her heavy leather apron, leather pants, and boots. (Wearing protective clothing around dwarves and their forge is a necessity. The pullover shirt only came down about mid-thigh on her, much to Kim's annoyance.) Brokk came over with a leather bag saying, "Put your memory device in here, this bag is waterproof." Kim put in her Kimmunicator and Brokk sealed the bag then placed it in a leather sack containing a picnic lunch.

Carrying two skins of cold water, the leather sack and each having a pocket boat, Kim and the elven weaver padded barefoot into a narrow corridor in the back of the workroom.

The corridor grew larger and larger until it could easily fit two pocket boats rolling side by side. They unfolded their boats, lashed the water skins and lunch sack down to rings on the boat deck and were soon rolling down the jewel lit roadway, Inkeri asking Kim what her life on Midgard was like. After a bit, the stone floor ended on an actual sandy beach. Unlike the jewel lit underground corridor, this underground lake was dark. The water was mirror smooth and Kim thought she saw a light across the water.

"See that light?" Inkeri asked, "That's an exit. If the weather is nice, we'll have lunch there."

She then tied a safety rope from her boat to her wrist and waited for Kim to do the same.

"You don't really need to use the rope, Kim Possible," she said, "The weave was done similar to your bracelet, just like them, your boat will come when you call. Try not to fall in. The water is much saltier than seawater, it feels itchy when it drys on your skin."

Part of Kim wanted to call for Mjöllnir, 'just in case' but the rest of her was relaxed and curious to see where this trip would end. In the end, trust and curiosity won out.

The two little boats rolled easily into the water and they were soon sailing across the lake. In the dark and with dwarven magic providing a steady wind at their back, Kim had no idea what distance they sailed but eventually they were on the other side and on a sandy beach again. Kim had checked behind her periodically as they sailed along and the sparkling gems of the roadway corridor was an easy to spot beacon on how to get back.

Sunlight poured through trees and overgrowth lining an opening in the cave wall. They carefully maneuvered their boats through the opening, with the occasional stop to untangle vegetation from a wheel. They had just appeared out on the water of an above ground lake when the weaver stopped her boat.

"Kim Possible," said Inkeri, "We are showing you this spot because we want you to be able to visit us without anyone on Asgard knowing. Brokk said that this will let you find this place again." The light elf reached into their lunch sack and handed Kim her Kimmunicator in its protective bag.

"But this won't work on Alfheim…" Kim started to explain when she noticed the GPS lock light turned green immediately after the device turned on and booted. "This is Earth, I mean, Midgard!" Kim exclaimed.

"Please don't contact anyone, this passage needs to be kept a secret. Can your device record this location so you can find it later?" said Inkeri.

Kim opened the GPS mapping function. The location readout was steady at 37.751, -97.822 with an accuracy of seven meters. 'Damn,' she thought, scrolling through her GPS history, 'those numbers look familiar… I wonder…'

"Follow me," she said and sailed due north. Looking behind her, she saw the elf sailing behind her but the tree-lined cave opening was gone, just empty water.

Reaching the shoreline, she rolled up onto a grassy area and hopped off the boat. Looking in the overgrowth she found two hastily hidden jetpacks. Either Wade forgot to retrieve them or…

A little panicked, she pulled out the Kimmunicator again and checked the date provided by the GPS satellites. She wasn't sure exactly how long she had been in Asgard, but she was relieved that the date did show that she had not traveled back in time. In fact, according to her calculations, she had been gone from earth at least four months. It didn't seem like that long, perhaps time wasn't a constant among the realms?

"Ready for lunch now?" Inkeri asked, totally unconcerned and unsurprised that Kim found machines hidden in the shrubbery.

"Sure," replied Kim. She felt one of her friendship bracelets spin around her wrist and held up her arm to look at it. As she looked closely at it, she felt a shiver of dread go down her spine.

"What is it doing?" asked Inkeri, "Ours don't move at all."

"I don't know," answered Kim. She held out her other hand with her fingers spread out. The bracelet untied itself then flew to her hand twining itself around and between her fingers like an affectionate little grass snake. "Sindri and Brokk made it so that a 'Chosen One' could command it. Have you ever heard of the Lotus Blade?"

Inkeri giggled, "Sun Wukong has been visiting and trying to woo all the female elves. He won't shut up about his Mystical Monkey Power, the Lotus Blade and his Compliant Golden-Ringed Rod. Some suspect that the last thing is about a body part."

Kim smiled, "I am a Chosen One by birth, not by selection of the Mystical Monkey Power. The Lotus Blade, at least, is a real weapon. It flies to my hand when I call it and it can change shape to what I need it to be. Should I have heard of Sun Wukong?"

"He's a Chinese Demigod," Inkeri replied, "The Jade Emperor and his court are supposedly angry at his and have kept him locked up for the last five-hundred years or so. He escaped by cloning himself using a hair from his beard. Or so he claims."

"Not up on my Chinese gods," Kim said, "I'll ask Master Po when I get back to the monastery. Or maybe Ron and his Mystical Monkey Power Avatar know something. Anyway, Ron called the Lotus Blade from halfway around the world, maybe I can send him this little bracelet from here to him, it can't be more than eight-thousand furlongs to Ron. I'm betting that I can send this bracelet to him."

"Wouldn't you rather give it to him in person?" Inkeri asked.

"Normally, yes," replied Kim, "but the bracelet is restless and I have a feeling that something is wrong." She concentrated on the bracelet winding and unwinding around her fingers, she whispered, "Find Ron, tell him I love him."

The bracelet stiffened into a little arrow shape and flew off into the sky.

"Now, are we ready for lunch?" the hungry elf asked again.

The grassy area made a perfect picnic spot and they unpacked lunch to find that Brokk had packed bowls of vegetable chili with bread, butter, and a basket filled with something Kim figured was a small plum or large grape; seedless, a little tart, easy to eat in two bites. Inkeri said that Brokk told her to have Kim play the moving pictures of Ron and Hana for her. It was a pleasant lunch with her lunch buddy complimenting Kim on having a fine mate and declaring that Hana was absolutely adorable.

After lunch, they packed away their dishes and Kim pulled out the two jetpacks from their hiding places to take back to Brokk and Sindri to play with.

Letting Kim lead to test her navigation skills, they sailed back on the lake, and using GPS, Kim quickly found the exact spot where the gateway between realms became visible.

"The road on the other side of the lake that takes you back to Sindri's workshop is always lit. The gateway to Midgard is easy to find in the daytime, much harder at night," pointed out Inkeri.

"Do Brokk and Sindri visit Midgard?" asked Kim.

"No, it would be dangerous as dwarves turn to stone if they make a mistake and get caught in the sun." she replied.

The trip back was not in the dark as the weaver cast a spell to create a glowing ball on the top of their masts. She took advantage of the light to show Kim what tricks she had learned on the pocket boats. The trick to reverse the wind to bring you to a quick stop was useful and Kim loved using a gust of wind to make the little boat leap out of the water for a short distance. She kept trying to figure out how to make the boat stay airborne but flight apparently wasn't something that subterranean dwarves thought about.

On the trip back, they chatted about their families, Kim talked about how her family was full of makers, her dad made rocket planes, her uncle did satellites, and her two brothers with half-sister Joss made a mechanical Pegasus.

The dwarves were delighted at the gifts of the jetpacks and were clearly excited at the prospect of taking them apart. They had enough fuel left for Kim to give the engines a short burn to show how that part worked.

When it was time to leave, Kim found out that both dwarves and light elves were quick to catch onto the concept of hugs. Inkeri gave her six bracelets like the ones that they wore, explaining that Brokk and Sindri were starting a guild of makers and that these would be the badges that guild members wore. The bracelets were for Wade Load and the makers in her family.

Tired and happy, Kim finally 'sailed' up the Bifrost to tell Heimdallr about her day and join him for dinner. She didn't mention the gateway between Nidavellir and Midgard, she figured that he either already knew or it was a secret between her and her new maker buddies.

 _ **Shego**_

Moving to greet Shego as she stepped off the stairs, Ron slipped inside her outstretched hand to give her a quick hug.

"You that lonesome?" Shego jested as Ron stepped back.

"A little lonesome for KP, sure, but I think that greeting a person who dragged your butt out of the fire deserves more than a handshake,"

Rhianna's eyes had grown wide and her body was practically vibrating with excitement, her argument with Ron forgotten for the moment. "Shego! Hi! I'm Rhianna Pimm, but people just call me Rhi. I'm so glad to meet you!" exclaimed Rhianna.

"Kid, you know who I am?" asked Shego.

"Of course! You are Shego, formerly of Team Go, world-renowned escape artist, burglar, and saver of Kim and Ron!" Shego was expecting the girl to whip out a permanent marker at any second and ask her to autograph a body part.

"Jess, this is Shego," Rhianna continued, "She's your basic plasma slinging, butt-kicking, super-woman. Shego, this is Jessica Fields, she is our housemate, classmate, and studying to be a facilitator/arbitrator."

Shego nodded at Jessica, "Pleased to meet you, Jess." Looking at the binders and folders surrounding Jessica, she teased, "BHS? Blue Heart Society? Wait, don't tell me, Ronnie here is a stud and you line up the mares for him?"

"Ron breeds horses?" asked a confused Rhianna.

"Not at all Ms. Shego, Ron's BHS contracts, if any, are none of your business," Jessica said in an icy voice, "Ron's involvement with the BHS is not general knowledge in this house and I want to keep it that way. I am learning to make sure that all the parties involved in a contract understand their particular costs and benefits so they can make a decision in their own best interest. And to settle any disputes afterward. Ron has been kind enough to let me practice on some of his missions. At the very least, I help coordinate missed lectures and assignments"

"Missions, Ronald?" Shego raised an eyebrow at Ron.

"Yeah well, you know, some of these cat owners are pretty particular about how you get their cats out of trees, so Jess works out the pre-rescue agreements."

Ron continued, "So, Shego, what's the sitch? I'm guessing that you don't have a cat and I'm guessing that you aren't here to arrange for a dose of The Ron's Premium Man-Seed…"

Jessica rolled her eyes and mouthed "I'll explain later" at Rhianna while glaring at Ron.

Shego busted out laughing so hard that she had to sit down. Wiping her eyes, she said, "Mystical Monkey Power and he's a comedian, too."

Looking more serious, Shego said, "If cupcake here can clear a week of your time, we need you. The Lowardian Empire really, really wants to meet with the mystical strikers that helped defeat the pirate Lowardians. We are meeting at Dr. Slim Possible's ranch. The meeting deadline is in two days, sooner if we can manage it."

"How badly do we need Kim?" asked Ron.

"No idea. Do you know where she is? Can you get her a message?" said Shego.

"Kim is in China somewhere, I have no way to get in touch with her. She refused to take any MMP from me before she left. I supposed that someone could go hunt for her…" said Ron, trying to think of a way to find Kim in time.

"Ain't going to be me!" said Shego.

"Damn straight, if we are going to have to kick Lowardian butt off this planet, I want you and Dr. Drakken at my side. I really want to have Kim too, but I figure that we don't have time to find her."

"Not supposed to be a fight, sport," said Shego, "this bunch claims to be the good guys. These diplomatic meetings are supposed to be for real. They say the ones we fought were space pirates or something and that all this "Great Blue" nonsense that Warmonga was going on about is from some ancient report made by a Lowardian researcher studying ancient mystical Chinese combat mojo. Apparently, she put a bunch of reports in a rocket to home and then disappeared. The reports just recently surfaced."

"Holy crap," muttered Jessica.

"Does a researcher named Paksairlea ring any bells?" asked Ron.

"Uh, they mentioned finding reports written centuries ago but not the researcher's name. Did you find more reports?" asked Shego.

"Do I meet you at the ranch, then?" asked Ron.

"I've got the stealth hovercraft sitting cloaked in the little pond by the fountain. I was hoping to pick you up and be back in Florida tomorrow morning at the latest. Three of the Emperor's personal guards are babysitting Drew. I figure we will all go to the ranch together."

"There's someone I think you need to meet before we leave. There is an Avatar that came with the MMP and the Avatar says she's really a Lowardian researcher and her name is Paksairlea," said Ron. "We can imbue you with some MMP and take you to see her; sort of a mystical vision/trance thing.

"Shego," said Ron quietly, "We believe that the Monkey King sacrificed her to bind the MMP to the Jade statues that Monkey Fist gathered up. When I broke the statues and absorbed the MMP, I got her as a bonus prize. She is trying to remember if there is a way to unbind herself and become a free person again. I am hoping your Lowardians might be able to help."

"But what happens to you when you lose the Avatar?" Shego asked.

Ron took a breath, "Don't know. I might lose the MMP. I suppose that whatever it takes to do the separation might hurt me. But she has been imprisoned for hundreds of years, Shego. I have to do whatever it takes to free her. She is my friend."

"And Kim?" Shego almost whispered.

"She'll understand. Saving people is what we have always been about. It would be nice to see KP one more time, though."

Rhianna, unhappy that Ron and Shego's discussion was getting so morbid, popped in front of Ron. She turned her back to him, and chirped "Do me, please."

As Ron rolled his eyes and put his hands on Rhianna's neck to charge her with MMP, Shego snorted and said "Ron! You're doing fourteen-year-old girls now? Does Kim know about this?"

"Hey! I'll be sixteen in two days!" Rhianna protested, happy to have steered the conversation away from what could go wrong. There would be plenty of time for that later.

When Rhianna stepped away, Shego, with a smirk, stepped in front of Ron, turned around, loosened her collar, and in her best sultry voice said "Do me, Ronnie baby,"

Ron laughed and put his hands on Shego. While Rhianna soaked up MMP like a sponge, he had to push hard to imbue Shego. "Shego, does this feel OK?"

"Yeah, feels like a wave of cool relaxation running down my back. Why?"

"Seems harder to imbue you with power than other people. Try a small flame."

She held up a hand which was immediately wreathed in a turquoise flame. "That's different. Feels the same though."

"Have a seat and get comfortable," said Ron.

Shego sat cross-legged on the floor leaning against Ron's bed. Jessica sat on one side of her and Rhianna sat on the other. Ron sat in front of her, held out a hand, and said, "Take my hand."

Shego reached out her hand and immediately found herself in a clearing in a lush forest.

 _ **The Offer Part 2**_

"Good morning," said Kim walking in the open door of Loki's suite. "Is Thor late or am I early?" she asked, only seeing Loki at the table.

"Thor has been called away to a meeting with Odin," replied Loki, "I would like to go ahead and discuss our offer. Have you had time to think about becoming a goddess?"

"It is a generous offer, but I'm not really goddess material. The violence, death, and destruction I've been involved in are making me someone I'm not supposed to be. It's past time for me to return to Midgard," Kim explained.

"But you wouldn't necessarily have to be in Asgard all the time. You could take trips to all the realms, including Midgard, to fight evil and help people." Loki stressed.

"I think that going back occasionally to Midgard would make it worse, it would emphasize that I have left behind the people I love," said Kim

"What if our offer included Ron Stoppable?" Loki said with a sly smile. "The one thing that we gods have is time. You and he could take time to heal you and then take more responsibility as your spirit heals and grows stronger."

Kim was stunned. She hadn't thought of bringing Ron to Asgard. She had figured that this was a mission like any other in the sense that she would return home after it was over. But what if it was permanent? She thought that Ron would become as sick of violence as she had gotten, but it did seem like a loving partner would at least ask. With Ron at her side, maybe she could endure all the problems here long enough to start making changes. She thought that Freya seemed reasonable and so did Heimdallr, Brokk, and Sindri. It wouldn't be like they wouldn't have allies. Loki seemed a bit untrustworthy, but Thor seemed honest enough if a bit clueless.

"Lord Loki, you have a valid point. It would only be fair to consult with Ron and see what he thinks," Kim admitted.

"Of course, for me to expand our offer to cover your boyfriend, I would expect some consideration in return. That's only fair, right?" Loki's smile raised warning flags in Kim's mind. Raising his hand, she felt her throat tingle. Trying to protest, no sound came out of her mouth.

"I think we can have a calmer discussion about the consideration you owe me without you calling Mjöllnir, don't you?" he said with a dangerous smirk.

Alarmed, she stood up. Kim was faster than most, but not faster than a god. Even if she had held Mjöllnir recently to get a boost in strength and speed, she wasn't sure that Loki wasn't still faster and stronger.

Loki backhanded her, slapping her to the ground. She struggled to her knees spitting blood only to find herself looking at Loki's member. "Pleasure me enough on your knees and maybe I will leave your maidenhead for your Ronald," he sneered.

Kim lost it. She screamed mentally for Mjöllnir and at the same time, she gripped his member in her hand with all her strength to prevent it from being used elsewhere. Kim didn't have her Mjöllnir boosted strength, but 'normal' Kim had a grip that allowed her to hold her hairdryer grapple in one hand, grab Ron with the other and pull both teens and their mission gear up the side of a cliff.

Loki grinned, saying, "You know what to do…" but was cut short when he was blasted into the wall by a short-handled hammer accompanied by a buzz-saw storm of window glass fragments.

Eir was running to Loki's suite, a raven having delivered a message from Freya saying that she was needed there immediately. Hearing the crash of something blast through the suite's exterior windows followed by seeing the corridor wall cracking beside her, she ran into the room. She saw Kim on her knees, growling like a trapped animal while holding a long, piece of flesh dripping blood. Giving the obviously crazy woman a wide berth, Eir walked over to a broken and bleeding Loki. Putting him into a suspended state so he wouldn't bleed all down the corridor, she slung the idiot over her shoulder. Turning to leave, she saw Sigyn come running in the door.

"Freya told me that I was needed here," she said, surveying the scene.

"Well, Freya should have told us sooner, we are a little too late," grumbled Eir. "See if you can get the rest of your husband from Lady Kim and I'll see if I can put the idiot back together."

After Eir walked out the door carrying Loki, Sigyn showed a sly smile, thinking, 'No, I think we arrived at exactly the right time.' Grabbing a couple of towels out of a cabinet, she walked over to Kim with all the care of one approaching an angry bear. She crooned, "Kim honey, it's OK, you're OK, everyone's OK. Can I take that from you, please?"

Sanity started returning to Kim's eyes. Realizing what she was holding, she released it with a shriek and Sigyn handed her a towel to wipe the blood off her hand. With Kim furiously scrubbing the blood off her hand, Sigyn retrieved Loki's 'private parts' and wrapped them in the second towel.

Seeing that Kim was trying to talk but was unable to speak, Sigyn reached out and brushed warm fingers over Kim's throat.

"Is… Is he dead?" whispered Kim.

"No honey, Eir took him and will put him back together. Call the hammer, Kim. It will settle your nerves." Sigyn soothed.

"But he hit me and wanted me to… I didn't mean to hurt him that badly. But I had to stop him from…" Kim rambled as Sigyn held up Kim's hand.

"Call Mjöllnir!" barked Sigyn.

The hammer flew into Kim's hand. Instantly, the redhead's body started to bulk up in muscle mass and gain height.

"He wanted me to have sex with him in exchange for Ron to have a chance of godhood!" Kim roared and got to her feet, " That bastard was going to take what is my right to offer freely, to someone of my choice! I'll kill him!".

"Easy my Lady, easy!", Sigyn said trying to soothe Kim, "I have a better idea than killing him."

Kim sat down on a chair and looked doubtful. A large raven flew through the hole in the window and squawked at Sigyn.

"What's that you say Mother Raven?" replied Sigyn.

A series of squawks.

"Your babies are starving and need food right now or they'll die?" Sigyn appeared to be talking to the raven. The weirdness of the scene calmed Kim down from her rage.

Three squawks and the raven plucked at the towel Sigyn had.

"But if I give you this, what will my boyfriend use to pleasure me and give me children?" argued Sigyn.

A long squawk followed by three shorter ones.

"Yes, children can be a pain and sometimes they trigger Ragnarok, but there is still the pleasure part." Sigyn pointed out.

A long series of squawks. The raven then stared at Sigyn and its eyes grew impossibly large and pleading.

"You're right! Brokk and Sindri could make him a replacement that could please me mightily," Sigyn declared brightly, "There would be no children, but I know my husband would rather sacrifice any future children of his than let yours starve!"

Sigyn opened the towel and showed its contents to the raven. With a final squawk, the raven grabbed the flesh then flew out the hole in the wall and out of sight.

"What the heck just happened?" asked Kim.

"Victory, Kim, Victory," replied Sigyn. "I am a bit surprised, though, wouldn't immortality for your boyfriend been worth submitting to my husband?"

"You mean have sex with him?" asked Kim.

"This wasn't about sex, Kim," Sigyn explained, "it was about power and control over another person."

"Oh," Kim, "Well, if it had just been about sex; for Ron, I would do a lot of things willingly, but that? I don't know, just what did he offer, what would Ron gain from it? Maybe I would have, but not the way he acted! If he had been persuasive and given me time to think about it, well, who knows. But Ron would never want me to submit willingly to another for his sake. If I was forced to submit, then, as Loki intended, it would be a race between me and Ron to see who killed him."

Sigyn decided that for safety's sake, she needed to change the subject. "Could you accompany me to Nidavellir, please? Brokk and Sindri know you and I must arrange for a replacement part for Loki. Lower status women like myself traveling alone out of Asgard is frowned upon."

"What? But I'm a woman and I seem to be able to travel anywhere I want. And you're a goddess, aren't you." replied Kim.

"You are not just a woman, you are Lady Kim, the Hand that Holds the Hammer." pointed out Sigyn. "And Heimdallr likes you, so we can take the Bifrost and get there quickly."

"Can I get something to eat and drink first?" asked Kim.

"Let's have breakfast with Heimdallr," suggested Sigyn. "I would like to get the replacement parts to Eir as soon as possible."

"OK," replied Kim. "Let me freshen up a bit and we'll be off." As Kim walked to the sink to wash the last of the blood off her hands, she realized that once again, she had been the center of bloody violence. That she wasn't bothered about it, bothered her a lot. She had to get back to Ron and pass the Hammer on before she lost her very sense of self. She received a greater shock when she cleaned herself and returned to Sigyn.

"We must hurry," the Asgard woman urged. "It would be better to get you away from here so that hot heads don't prompt dark actions."

"What do you mean?" Kim asked, leading the way out of the door.

"A high-ranking Asgardian has been horribly maimed," Sigyn told her. "Thor will seek vengeance."

"Loki assaulted me!" Kim snarled.

"Loki offered his attentions to one of Midgard," Sigyn countered. "As much time as you've spent here, you are not of Asgard and should have submitted to the attentions of a god, or so Thor will insist."

"But… I don't have any say in the matter?" Kim demanded.

"Our ways may be beyond your reckoning," Sigyn admitted. "Let's see Heimdallr and seek his wisdom. Also, Thor angers quickly, but never stays angry for long. He will be more willing to listen to reason if some time goes by before seeing you again."

—

The raven flew to a forest in Folkvang near Sessrumnir. Arriving at a nest with five young, it presented its treasure to a pair of adults. It watched as the adults tore the flesh to bits and gave the bits to their young. When all the flesh was gone, it flew down to the small cottage and transformed into Freya wearing a cloak of raven feathers.

Entering the cottage, she hung up the cloak and finding the tea was still hot, she poured herself a cup. She turned to the two men who had risen from their chairs when she entered the room. Holding up her cup in a toast, she said, "Odin, my love, I have eliminated your next killer. No one shall prevent our love from lasting through eternity. No one."

Sitting in her chair so the men could sit back down, she said, "Lady Kim has solved a problem for my beloved and me. I think we should return the favor somehow. Lord Wukong, perhaps you could be of assistance?"

"Do you have a problem in mind?" said the man whose beard was short, but covered most of his face.

"She seems like an attractive young woman, but her mate seems hesitant to 'lay her like tile' as she puts it."

Sun Wukong laughed, "As fortune would have it, we have just listened to a report on her mate's woes. I know their problem, they want to be intimately physical, but want to avoid having a barrel of babies. It was a common problem for Mystical Monkey Masters and their mates." He thought for a moment then said, "I will take care of it. It is way past time for me to check on the Middle Kingdom's champions. I fear that the elvish women, whose beauty surpasses the sun, have distracted me far too long."

The other man, wearing an eye patch and looking worn by more than just years, reached down to a small table and lifted a platter. "My love for Freya makes the sun seem cold," he said, "Dearest one, Try one of these. They are called 'churros'." Holding up a little pot, he added, "Huginn and Muninn say that people like to dip them in melted chocolate."

 _ **Avatars and Aliens**_

Shego reached out her hand and immediately found herself in a clearing in a lush forest.

"Paksairlea is over this way," said Rhianna walking along a path and around a corner, disappearing.

The rest followed her and the scene suddenly changed with a small cottage appearing in front of them. Following Rhianna into the cottage, they found themselves in a large room with a long table covered in papers.

Paksairlea was sitting at one end of the table concentrating on reading papers in her hands. Rhianna walked up and hugged the Lowardian.

"Hi Leah," chirped Rhianna, "we've brought a guest."

"Hello, Rhi, who have you… Shego!" Paksairlea had turned around to greet her guests and immediately stood up and bowed respectfully to Shego. "Shego, I must thank you for first, not killing my host and his mate in their earlier adventures and then, saving my host and his mate in their last adventures."

"How do you know me?" asked Shego, bowing in return.

"I pretty much remember everything that my hosts see or hear," she waved at the papers piled on the table, "not that it seems that I have seen or heard anything to help me regain my freedom."

A printer on a stand whirred to life, printed a half-dozen pages, and then went silent.

"The years I spent trapped in the statues while they were separated and hidden nearly drove me insane due to the solitary isolation." Paksairlea explained, "I am not fully recovered even now, but my memories are slowly coming back. Rhi had the most excellent idea for me to visualize my memories as sheets of paper and described a printer that writes memories on paper. I find that after a little practice, I can generate pages of memories automatically without conscious thought."

Shego walked over to the table and picked up a sheet of paper. "It's blank?" she commented.

"It's like a video, relax your eyes and you will see it and then the sound will start in your head," explained Rhi.

"The pages are sorted from old to new with the oldest ones down at this end. Rhi has been so kind as to spend her spare time down here helping me sort them."

"So, this is how you've been searching my memories?" asked Ron, eyes narrowing at Rhianna, "My private memories?"

"No, my child," Paksairlea assured him, "she has no access to your thoughts or feelings. She has been looking at my memories. Only a small portion of the total time has been spent with you as my host."

"Ron, I only looked at them long enough to see if they were ancient China or Montgomery Fiske reading scrolls," Rhianna pleaded, "Well, except for this one. But it was only this one, I swear it!" Rhianna dove into a pile and pulled out a page, handing it to Ron with eyes that pleaded for forgiveness.

Ron looked at the page and let his eyes unfocus. He saw and heard Hana dancing in his arms, squealing with delight. They played Skeeball a bit longer and then when Kim rolled a "fifty", he saw her smiling at him while he danced with her, hearing Hana cheering from the sideline.

Ron smiled at the memory, it was, after all, one of the best days of his life.

"My child," said Paksairlea, "If you are angry at anyone, be angry at me. I did not think about respecting your privacy. To be honest, it would not have made a difference if I had thought of it. I am desperate to find information to regain my freedom."

"OK," Like Ron had told Chaos, he couldn't be that upset. Her freedom trumped any potential embarrassment from a classmate seeing him do something, well, embarrassing. Any of the many, many embarrassing things he had done. "You can show anyone anything. But if you hear a cheesy Australian accent, put the paper down and stop looking!"

"Wait a minute," Shego suddenly thought of something, "Ms. Avatar, if you can see and hear what Ron can see and hear then you know why I am here, right?"

"Shego, I'd be pleased if you would call me Leah. Normally I would see and hear and watch over Ron's physical form, but I am focusing all my energies on finding clues in my old memories to help me gain my freedom.

All the eyes in the room except Shego's flashed with a sudden blue glow.

Paksairlea's skin paled. "Ron, in my time, the Emperor was a good man and his personal guard were good people that you could trust with your life and your honor. But that was a long time ago."

Shego found herself alone in the room with Paksairlea. "What just happened! How do I get back?" she asked, annoyed that the 'buffoon' left without her.

Paksairlea walked over to Shego and knelt down so their heads were at the same level. "A Lowardian has entered Ron's room. Ron has pulled you back, I am delaying it for just a second. Whatever happens, you must not allow Ron to sacrifice himself for my freedom. During my long solitary isolation, the only thing that allowed me to keep a small scrap of sanity was a vision I had in which I found good people to befriend me. I would rather remain a slave for another hundred years than hurt Ronald." The cottage vanished.

Shego, fully back sitting on the floor by Ron's bed, muttered "Bloody heroes," unfolded her legs and stood up. Looking around the room, she saw Warhong with a drawn short sword sitting on the stairs. The surface of the sword was lit with dancing arcs of electricity. She also saw the kids spreading out and arranging themselves in an arc around the new threat with Ron in the middle, every damn one of them lit with a blue aura.

"Warhong! How's it going, girl?" Shego called out, trying to ratchet down the tension in the room.

"It is going well, Lady Shego," replied the Emperor's Blade, extinguishing her sword and sheathing it, "We believe senior officials in the United States of America and Global Justice have finally seen the video of Ronald and Kimberly defeating Warhawk. We believe they desire to recreate the strike team that helped defeat the _Spear of Fire._ Our intel team says that they both consider your team a 'secret weapon'."

"Any recommendations?" asked Shego.

"After we have the meeting, I recommend joining the group that you trust the most before they find you. Perhaps you can convince them that destroying the _Spear of Fire_ is one thing, destroying a much larger warship parked in geosynchronous orbit is another. We intend to negotiate an honest peace and mutual defense treaty with governments on this planet; we can make sure that you are being treated well as part of that process."

"What if one of us was a Lowardian citizen?" asked Ron.

"Then my duty requires me to take them with me for safety until the treaties get settled out. Why do you ask?" said Warhong, eyes alight with interest. An Emperor's Blade uses her wits as much as she uses her weapons and Warhong detected something interesting was up.

"Take my hand and trust me just a little," said Ron.

Shego said, "You already hold my mate and my heart hostage. Take his hand and relax. You will not regret it."

Warhong typed a quick message on the back of her gauntlet then pulled the gauntlet off and took Ron's hand in a firm grip. Her eyes soon showed blue sparkles in the pupils. Then her and Ron's eyes glazed over.

"How many others know about Avatar Leah?" asked Shego.

"Two students. And the instructor, Dr. Nova Ohlson, probably Kim Possible," replied Jessica. "Bishop! Please locate Nova Ohlson, Carlynn Brand, and Antubi Noratu."

After a short pause, the reply came back, "Dr. Ohlson, Ms. Brand, and Noratu-san are currently off the grid. Their cell phones are powered off."

Warhong dropped her hand from Ron's. "Ronald comes with me," she said typing furiously on her gauntlet keypad.

"Need a ride? I have a stealth hoverjet parked close," offered Shego.

"That would attract less attention than calling in a fast attack shuttle for retrieval," agreed Warhong. "Do you have sufficient fuel to go directly to Dr. Possible's ranch? Your mate Drew and the rest of my team left your house in Florida this afternoon to avoid any unpleasantness with government officials and their questions. They are already at the Ranch."

"Six black Suburbans with tinted windows have parked in front of the house. Men wearing black suits are getting out." said the robotic voice of Bishop. It was a general announcement to the whole house.

"Bishop! We left two hours ago out the front door!" said Ron.

"Timestamps and camera recordings updated," replied the system.

"OK, well, you all take care…" Ron started.

"Oh no," said Jessica, "We're all going, so suck it up."

"Damn straight we're all going," said Rhianna, "I'm charged full of MMP now. I don't wanna join some anti-alien combat unit."

"Just go Ron," said Shego, "No fighting tonight, no danger, just stealth. As far as anyone knows, we didn't know they were looking for us."

Ron led the group up the ladder and out his fire door coming out in the shrubberies. Where he ran into a naked Nova, with Carlynn and Antubi carrying her clothes and a couple of bags.

"We got a ride?" Nova asked.

"Stealth hoverjet parked in the pond by the fountain. I'll call it," Shego reported, pulling out a little remote from a pocket.

Nova and the other two students started when Warhong popped out of the shrubberies bringing up the rear.

"This is Warhong, she's a friend," Jessica explained to Warhong's amusement.

Nova put her hand on Shego's, "I'm afraid the engines will make too much noise. Let's walk to the pond instead," Nova suggested, "We haven't covered MMP stealth so we will use úlfheðnar stealth. She reached into a bag that Carlynn was carrying and pulled out large pairs of pink cat ears. The silly ones that have a springy band that you wear on your head. Laughing, she said "You should see the look on your faces. But I'm serious, put them on then hold out your hand. They did as instructed, even Warhong. Nova put a tiny scratch on the back of their hands using a charm from her necklace.

"Let's go," she said, dissolving into a rainbow of sparkles and reforming into a white wolf.

The two agents circling around the side of the house heard a rustling in the shrubbery. Pulling out flashlights, they saw a large white dog followed by several large gray cats come bounding out of the bushes and run across the lawn.

"The subject and his associates left two hours ago." crackled the radio. "They didn't say where they were going. Settle in out of sight, we'll get 'em when they come back. Remember, these people are the good guys, so keep weapons holstered, smile and be polite but firm about needing their help."

Rhianna was totally stoked. This was not stage illusion or close up misdirection, this was real illusion. If she looked down at herself, she looked normal, just a little hard to focus on. Nova looked like a white wolf, which she had seen before, but all her friends were gone, just some gray cats trotting along beside her.

An observer being truly observant and not just looking for a blond freshman male or eight-foot-tall green alien, might have noticed a white dog and several cats stopping by the edge of the pond on the side furthest from the fountain. They might have heard small mechanical noises and then seen the dog, followed by the cats, jump into the pond but disappear before hitting the water.

Even the least observant would have noticed the gust of wind that blew spray from the fountain all over the place.

Shego was setting up via points on the navigation system to take them indirectly to Dr. Possible's ranch when she felt someone remove her cat headband.

"Having a cat pilot was too strange," said Rhianna.

"You know, I often thought of myself as a cat burglar, but that was something else. Where is Nova?" Shego asked.

"She's asleep in the back," answered Rhianna, "I think she powered the entire illusion."

"We'll be at Dr. Possible's Ranch in about an hour, I hope he doesn't carry a grudge for that stupid hat thing Drew and I pulled on him a couple of years back…" Shego said.

Rhianna sat in the copilot's seat as Shego told of the scheme involving 'silly hats' where Shego first met Joss Possible and her dad.


	10. Back at the Ranch

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable editing on parts of this story. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

Any appearance or mention of Wanda Wang and/or Suzie Chin are thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in his epic "Once Again" story arc.

Antubi Noratu appears also thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in "The Hunter: Book One"

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **The Lazy C**_

The Peacemaker's Diplomatic Section recommended holding planetary treaty meetings to distract people from the meetings at Slim's ranch, "The Lazy C". To be fair, these Lowardians lived for diplomacy and pretty much, meetings in general. Commander Pakshok sometimes considered these crew members a separate alien race but he had to admit that given the opportunity, they would work tirelessly to hammer out agreements that could strengthen the Empire.

At their recommendation, several large hangars at a nearby Air Force base were taken over for meetings hosted by the United States Government. Well, they would be used for meetings once the interminable speeches from American senior government officials were finished. These 'diplomatic meet and greet' sessions were repeated in other parts of the world using video conferencing.

The end result was that the activity on Slim's ranch was ignored by people and press. At least all the demonstrations and protests were at the Air Force Base.

These Lowardians thought of themselves as the good guys, but they weren't fools. Commander Pakshok had all three of the Emperor's Blades that were assigned to his ship here at Slim's Ranch along with a dozen Marines dressed as ordinary spacers. All Lowardians, except the Chief Medical Officer, wore sidearms and larger handheld weapons were available inside the shuttle. A second fast attack shuttle orbiting the ranch was a bit of highly visible discouragement to anyone who would disturb them.

A place for Drakken's stealth hoverjet was reserved in the spot where Nana's RV had been parked not that long ago. Not quite as comfortable as the RV, it could still take advantage of utility hookups and provide one extra effective bedroom. Which was good, because Slim was having an interstellar sleepover at his Lazy C Ranch.

Slim had removed the drop ceiling from the bunkhouse along with the impossibly short bedframes and lined the bedroom floors with mattresses to try to give his eight-foot-tall guests a comfortable place to sleep. The fast attack shuttle parked behind the bunkhouse was good for transport and light combat, but not sleeping, so the Lowardians appreciated the gesture of fixing up the bunkhouse for them.

The weather was predicted to be clear and a little frosty at night. Since the kitchen's ceiling was too low for their guests' comfort, food and general meetings took place in the backyard under two large canopy tents. Slim had managed to get his favorite catering crew on the ranch grounds before National Guard troops had ringed the ranch to "provide security".

Finding out that Lowardians were serious beer drinkers, Slim, James, and Bethany had talked their way past security and brought back a large selection of beers which were chilling in iced coolers along with a set of kegs obtained from two local brewpubs sitting in an ice-filled horse trough. They provided members of the Guard samples of their cargo both as a measure of goodwill and to demonstrate that no dangerous materials were going into the Lazy C ranch.

Bethany. The dark-eyed brunet Slim was falling in love with more and more each day. She refused to stay away from the ranch when she found out that real aliens from the stars were coming to visit. The woman, who said she loved Slim, but was still refusing to marry him, was to the point where her pregnancy was showing. A condition that she shamelessly used to her advantage with the National Guards and the Lowardians. To the Lowardians, because a space-going environment had so many chemical and radiological hazards, a pregnant woman was seen on board a spacecraft as often as a pink sparkly unicorn. They doted on her as much as they could, but unfortunately, they didn't have any astrophysicists on the ranch. She made do with conversations with Pakshok who had majored in astronomy in Command School. Bethany tried to repay the Lowardian's courtesy by trying to come up with ways to make them feel more welcome.

 _ **First meeting**_

 _ **First meeting**_

When Ron and company disembarked from the stealth hoverjet, they walked into what looked like an adult pool party if you ignored the fact that over half the guests were green-skinned and between seven and eight feet tall. Apparently deep space Lowardian warships had no swimming pools onboard. It also appeared that bathing suits were not part of the standard kits of either Lowardian spacers or Emperor's Blades, as suggested by the four skinny dipping aliens taking advantage of the above-ground pool. Thanks to Bethany's idea of dumping waste heat from the attack shuttle into the pool, it was now a heated pool.

Drakken was waiting for them and pounced on Shego, kissing her soundly and swinging her around in a circle. Ron was surprised but pleased and a little jealous to hear Shego make a little squeal of delight. With Drakken was a Lowardian whose posture and bearing spoke of command. He spoke briefly to Warhong and then switched to English. Looking at Ron, he held out his hand, "Mr. Stoppable, I am Commander Pakshok of the Imperial Heavy Cruiser Peacemaker," grasping Ron's hand in a firm grip, he continued, "I am pleased that you could find time to meet with us."

"It seemed like the prudent thing to do at the time sir," Ron gave a small smile, adding "Peacemaker seems like an ominous name for a warship."

"In our case, Mr. Stoppable, it refers to a religious text that has a line about how "peacemakers are the true children of God." In our crew, we have three of our society's most fierce soldiers called the Emperor's Blades." the Commander explained, "While we have over 100 personnel in the Diplomatic and First Contact sections."

"And you sent one of your precious Blades to invite us to meet with you and not a diplomat?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow.

Pakshok smiled, "Diplomats eagerly accept 'no' as a starting point for a long negotiation. An Emperor's Blade is harder to say 'no' to. My time here might be limited. In case we are called away on some emergency, I must know how well this planet is defended and you four are at the top of my list for its defenders. Speaking of your team, it appears that we are one short."

Ron replied, "Sir, my teammate, Kim Possible, left for China a few weeks ago. She is visiting a part of the world that has been isolated due to the recent attack on the world's comm systems. At present, I am unable to contact her."

"Perhaps I have resources that can help. In the meantime, Warhong tells me that you are carrying a Lowardian Citizen in some sort of mystical imprisonment. I would like to speak directly to her as soon as possible."

"Hey! Ron did not imprison her! He is trying to figure out how to set her free!" Carlynn, to Ron's amazement, came to his defense.

"My apologies," said Pakshok, "I should have chosen my words more carefully."

"Sir, I apologize for forgetting my manners, these are my friends and partners in the quest for setting Paksairlea free," said Ron who introduced the rest of his party, including Shego.

Pakshok, remembering that he was the commander of the Peacemaker and should be living up to that name, had everyone move under one of the large canopy style tents, where they pulled up chairs in a circle around a basketball sized orb floating about ten feet off the ground. It was anchored to a wastepaper basket sized base and gave off a soft light and a gentle heat that felt nice against the night chill. Several other orbs were scattered around inside the tents and most had people sitting around them talking.

"I would like to speak to Paksairlea as soon as it can be arranged. How can we make that happen?"

Ron replied, "Sir, we just need a place to sit and you need to tell me who you want there. I figure I can manage maybe four people besides me and a couple of the people you see here. I need to charge people with MMP to take them. Oh, Warhong is already charged, so she can come for free."

"Paksmonga! Warnatius! Warlanse! I need you!" he called out.

A Lowardian woman walking up in a uniform similar to Pakshok's objected, "I am uncomfortable with risking the Peacemaker's Commander by allowing him to participate in a primitive Chinese mysticism ceremony,"

"Doctor Paksmonga," objected Pakshok, "Warhong did it and survived to report." He pointed at the Blade sitting on the other side of the globe. He continued, "All these other people have done it multiple times, so it must not be immediately fatal. Really, 'Monga, I understand and hear your concerns but I feel I must go to represent the Emperor in this matter."

Soon Pakshok, the Ship's Doctor Paksmonga, the Monk Warnatius, and the Emperor's Blade Warlanse were all imbued with the MMP by Ron. Ron drew them plus Rhianna and Warhong into the Avatar's meditation forest. He looked around and saw that everyone seemed to be here.

"Pull up a log people, Paksairlea will be here shortly," Ron told the others. He sat on the ground leaning against a log with Rhianna sitting on top of it next to him. Seeing that Warlanse seemed determined to stay standing as a guard, Ron said, "Seriously dude, there is nothing here that will hurt any of you. Sit. Relax. The lady is nervous about meeting you all. She is afraid that she has failed somehow." There was a hard glare from both Ron and Rhianna at the others with Rhianna declaring, "She hasn't failed."

Warhong spoke to her commander in Lowardian, "It's true sir, Paksairlea is worried that by not accepting an offer to become a consort to some demigod, she failed her mission to help protect the empire."

Warlanse sat after a nod from Pakshok. Warlanse approved of these young humans and their protectiveness of a friend.

They heard someone brushing against leaves and Paksairlea stepped into the clearing. She wore a pale blue uniform that Ron had never seen, although he thought its cut suited her tall, thin (for a Lowardian) build.

"Field Researcher Paksairlea ready to report sir," she said in a quavering voice as she stood at attention.

Pakshok stood, walked over to the trembling Lowardian. Wrapping her in a hug, Pakshok held her tight until her trembling stopped. He then said, "Welcome, Field Researcher Paksairlea. I wish to express my and as his representative, my Emperor's sorrow and regret that you were lost and abandoned. We will bring you home again. I swear it. What must we do?"

"Sir, after reviewing my notes, I believe that Ron must be drained of the MMP power without draining all of his human energy. If we are careful, I believe that this will make it possible for me to free myself using some sort of mystical trigger. If we are sloppy, it could kill us both."

"My notes are vague in places and I request assistance from a medical officer and anyone with knowledge of mystical systems," asked Paksairlea.

The Lowardian dressed in what Ron thought of as Dracula's cloak got up, walked over, and bowed politely. "I am Monk Warnatius," he introduced himself, "I have studied your reports closely and have found one or two similar reports from other planets. It would be my greatest honor to work with you in any capacity that I can."

Paksmonga followed Warnatius, saying, "I am Physician Paksmonga, Chief Medical Officer of the Peacemaker. I would be pleased to assist you."

Paksairlea nodded in greeting and said, "Might I suggest that Rhianna, Paksmonga, and Warnatius remain for a while and the rest return. Ronald, my child, you are becoming exhausted. Rhi can assist me in showing them the most pertinent memories."

Waiting until she got a nod from Ron, she continued, "Then tomorrow after everyone has rested, perhaps we will know enough to plan an attempt at freeing me."

"You got this, Rhi?" asked Ron.

"I've got it covered, Ron. And I'll make sure if we come across any memories with you doing a bad Australian accent, we'll skip it," she said with a grin.

Ron returned, bringing the others back and flopped back on the grass. The warmth from the glowing orb felt good on his face.

 _ **Ordering Replacement Parts**_

Freshly scrubbed and free of the blood, bits of broken glass and dust of her encounter with Loki, Kim walked with Sigyn out to Heimdallr's little cottage by the Bifrost. She noticed that people they had passed in the halls had given her strange looks, but she thought it was because not everyone was used to seeing a young woman carrying around Mjöllnir.

Heimdallr was standing on the Bifrost waiting for them with his arms crossed.

"Great Odin's Ravens! Girl, what have you done!" he boomed when they came closer.

"Good morning to you too, Heimdallr," Kim said giving her Hammer a little spin. "It appears that one of the gods could not keep his little Loki in his pants and it met with an accident."

Eyes that could see individual snowflakes falling on Midgard saw hints of unhappiness, guilt, and anger in Kim's eyes. Ears that could hear a mouse sneeze on Alfheim heard a brittleness in Kim's voice that told him that she was one hug away from breaking down in tears.

So, he stepped forward and engulfed the small woman in a huge hug. She didn't start sobbing, no one holding Mjöllnir ever cried. But he felt the wetness of her tears on his shoulder.

"Heimdallr, what have I become? Loki hit me and I mutilated him in return! That's not justice…" the young woman in his arms murmured.

"Kim, you wield Mjöllnir. Not any Hammer, but the Hammer of Justice. Thor lost the ability to call it on the day he let vengeance drive his actions," the pale god told her. "I saw Loki attacking you with a weapon. Taking away the weapon looks like Justice to me."

"You were watching? I thought you watched over the realms, not inside of Asgard," Kim said, her voice wet with tears.

"Aye, usually I do. But I overheard Freya tell Eir she needed to get to you and Loki as quickly as she could. So, I looked to see what was happening. I saw Loki knock you to the ground. I heard what he told you to do. I saw the Hammer dispense Justice," Heimdallr held Kim out a bit so he could see into her eyes. "Do you know what I did not see or hear?" he asked.

When Kim shook her head, he continued, "I did not see you direct the Hammer with your hands or command the Hammer with your voice. The Hammer picked its _own_ target when it came to your aid." Setting her gently on the ground, he told her, "Now go in and wash away those tears. I will put water on for tea and put some breakfast on the table."

Sigyn stepped up to Heimdallr and they watched Kim go into the cottage.

"We need to send her home so she can get rid of that cursed _Hammer_ ," Sigyn said, "It might be the Hammer of Justice, but it contains a harder, more cruel Justice than lives in her heart."

"I think she needs to go with you to Nidavellir, she can convince the dwarves to make a replacement part for Loki." Looking out to the horizon, he continued. "Even without being able to see her future, I foresee trouble resulting from her attack on Loki. She will want to deal with that here and not have it follow her to Midgard."

—

"Kim Possible!" shouted Inkeri to be heard over Sindri's hammering, "I thought you were going back home!"

Sindri gave the object of his attention two more strikes of his hammer and did a cold-water quench, the steam momentarily obscuring him.

"Sigyn! I haven't seen you in ages, what brings you down to see my noisy friends?" Inkeri asked.

"Sigyn? Loki's girlfriend?" Brokk didn't seem happy to see her.

"Well," started Kim, "I had a bit of a conflict with Loki and then uh…"

"Loki struck her down, tried to sexually assault her," Sigyn cut to the chase, "then Kim ripped off his genitals, so we would like you to make him a new set, please."

"Why doesn't Eir fix his old ones?" sneered Sindri.

"Well, you see," Sigyn said, "I sort of gave them to a mother raven and she fed them to her chicks."

For a time, the only sound in the workshop was the occasional crackle of coal in the forge. Then Brokk and Sindri roared with laughter, a deep sound that filled the workshop.

When the laughter subsided, Inkeri asked, "I'm assuming that you want this prosthetic to be fully functional?"

Sigyn replied, "I want it to provide me pleasure and only provide Loki pleasure when used with me."

Sharing an evil grin with her dwarven friends, Inkeri said, "We can do that easily now that Kim Possible has shown us a better way to weave magic into things. Come over here, let me take some measurements." Taking Sigyn over to a table well away from the forge, Inkeri sat her on the table and had her lay back on it while the elven weaver pulled a metal measuring rod and calipers out of an apron pocket.

"Are you OK?" Brokk said seriously, "You haven't set your Hammer down once since you got here."

 _"Hey! Watch where you put that rod, it's cold!"_ Sigyn's complaint drifted over.

"I'm getting better. When it first happened, I think I was in shock. Sigyn made me call the Hammer and that snapped me out of it."

 _"Really!? You have to stick that in there? Easy! Easy! Ow! Be careful!"_

"You must be careful with this Hammer," Sindri said, "when we made Mjöllnir, we never figured that its wielder would be a Midgardian who would carry it all the time. I worry that it could affect your judgment."

 _"A little to the right… Yes! That's the spot it needs to hit."_

"I don't really carry it all the time," Kim replied, setting down her Hammer and stepping away from it, "I guess I'm afraid the panic will return. If I had been carrying it this morning, then…"

"No, Kim," interrupted Brokk, "You are not at fault here. You were in the main castle of Asgard, home of the Norse gods. You should be able to be there without the risk of assault. Especially from one of the gods themselves."

"I've got the measurements," Inkeri said. "I figure we should be able to finish the prosthetic today."

"I want to wait," said Sigyn, "to make sure it, uh, fits correctly." Looking at Kim, she added, "I can take it to Eir by myself. There is no need to wait for me, in case you want to get back to Midgard."

"OK, I'll say goodbye then," Kim replied and started with the hugs.

Bending over to whisper in Kim's ear as he hugged the small woman, Sindri said, "Remember, you can go straight to Midgard from here. I suspect that some people on Asgard will be unhappy with your actions against Loki."

Kim nodded, picked up then gave Mjöllnir a spin, saying, "Let them tell me that to my face."

"Not goodbye, but until we meet again Kim Possible," said Inkeri.

—

Kim sailed her pocket boat up the Bifrost. Not seeing Heimdallr outside on the Bifrost, she rolled up to the cottage porch. Collapsing the boat and putting it in a pocket, she put down her Hammer and walked in the open door. Before she could call out, she coughed once from inhaling dust and collapsed.

A grim Thor stepped out of the cottage with an unconscious Kim slung over his shoulder and headed toward Asgard.

"Thor!" called Heimdallr, coming out of his cottage, "Why are you violating guest laws in my house?"

Thor stopped and spoke without turning, "She attacked Loki and must pay."

"But Loki drew first blood, as I told you."

"That is why I did not strike her dead when she stepped in the door. We will decide her fate at trial. I will have Odin call a Thing."

"I cannot foresee futures she is a part of. I have heard rumors that Freya can. Perhaps you should consult with her before you go too far. If you haven't already gone too far." Heimdallr could not see futures involving Kim, but some things were obvious disasters even without the gift of prophecy.

 _ **Plan to Free the Avatar**_

"Sport, no sleeping, you need to talk to your team," Ron opened his eyes to see Shego talking to him.

"What?"

"If I leave now, maybe I can get some of your bunch back to campus and into bed before the Feds figure out they have been off cavorting with aliens," pointed out Shego, "If you can convince them to go."

Standing up he saw Carlynn, Jessica, Antubi, and Nova standing there looking down at him. Nova seemed unconcerned as usual, the others looked…obstinate? Standing up and pulling out his communicator, he pressed a button and said, "Bishop, connect me to Mercedes with a secure line, please." After a pause, the NOPE leader's voice came over the device, "Ron, what the hell are you guys doing? The Feds and Global Justice Agents are all over the place! They've talked to the weight trainers for the MMP class, but they can't find any of the students or Dr. Ohlson. They started talking to the students from the running class that they can find. I hear that Crystal really told them off. She said something like, ' _You're looking for Ron Stoppable? As in half of Team Possible? He's probably off with his team saving the world, AGAIN. Go help him and get out of my face!'_ So, are you?"

"Am I what?" Ron asked, fatigue setting in.

"Off saving the world!" Mercedes repeated.

"Nah, just trying to save a friend," Ron replied.

"Close enough. You guys be careful now and we've got your back if we can figure out exactly what that means," said Mercedes.

"We'll be careful if we can figure out exactly what that means," echoed Ron, "tell them everything you know about me, I don't want NOPE taking any heat because of me."

"Oh _please!_ NOPE is who we are and NOPE is what we say. Have Bishop tell us if we can do anything for you. Bye, gotta go, I think a suit is looking for me," and with a click, Mercedes had disconnected.

"Well, Ron, it looks like you are stuck with us all," said Carlynn, "It seems much friendlier here than back on campus. I think I'd rather take my chances with getting an alien probe than going back to _that_ mess."

"Ron!" a wrong red-haired comet glommed onto him, "Good to see ya, partner! We got the mole bats all settled into a new nest and Rufus is on his way to Japan with Tim, Wanda, and Suzie for some big doin' they got going on." She pulled him close to whisper in his ear, "Rufus 'n them said to tell you that they can be here with backup in two hours if'n you need them. Daddy is waiting to apologize for being such a jackass to you earlier this summer. Please make up with him, OK?"

Releasing Ron, she looked at the others saying, "Hi Nova, good to see you, too. Everybody, I'm Joss Possible…"

Ron felt a hand touch him on his shoulder and saw Pakshok wanting him to step over for a talk. Leaving Joss to her introductions, he stepped aside with the Commander to talk.

"How can we find Kim Possible?" The commander asked.

Ron rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, I'm not sure what comms equipment she has, and uh…"

"Mr. Stoppable, you don't trust us and I understand that. The last Lowardian you saw you ended up ripping his heart out to protect her. I saw the video," Pakshok paused and pointed at a chair, "Sit, please. Let's talk without you having to look up at me." Reaching into a cooler, he asked, "Beer? Water?"

"Water, please" answered Ron, sitting in the chair.

Handing Ron a bottle of water and sitting on the ground, he continued, "We have learned that she was going to study at a temple where the monks were Kung Fu Masters. There is an investigation team searching now. China is a big area and there are many temples, but I have heard that they have found the Shaolin temple that she went to, but she's no longer there. I swear to you that we mean you all no harm, but we need to know about your team's response to the attack helped defend to this planet to help prevent future attacks here or on other planets. The abilities demonstrated by your team are _fascinating._ Anything you can do to help us find her would be appreciated."

Taking a sip of beer, he said, "In the meantime, there is the puzzle of how to free Paksairlea. Perhaps working on that could help you learn to trust us a little. I expect a reaction from the Emperor to our initial report no later than midday tomorrow. It is late in your day, perhaps you should see to your team's accommodations and we will meet again in the morning." Pakshok looked at the unmoving figures of Rhianna and his crew saying, "How far away can you go before Ms. Pimm and my people can no longer communicate with Paksairlea?"

"I believe that I could pretty much be anywhere on the ranch and they would still be in range," Ron said, thinking that should be true given that he could talk to Rufus in Japan.

Ron got up and was looking for his 'crew' when Slim caught up to him.

"Ron, I have no excuse for my actions early this summer when I accused you of acting improperly towards Joss. I was a complete jackass and hope to make it up to you over time." Slim lowered his voice, "Ron if you or any of your bunch need to get out of here without being followed, let me know. Momma is aware of our visitors, and that Homeland Security and Global Justice is hounding all y'all and is ready to help if needed."

"Thanks, Dr. Possible, but I think we will see what these guys really want before we worry about running for the hills," Ron said quietly then continued in a normal volume, "So where do you have us bunking down tonight?"

"Bethany and Joss have fixed up air mattresses and sleeping bags down in the den. They said that your bunch thought they would sleep easier in the same room," Slim chuckled, "particularly if a wolf is sleeping in the doorway. There are extra toothbrushes and stuff like that in the den's bathroom. Dr. Drakken and Shego are sleeping in their hoverjet. And call me Slim, Ronald, less confusion that way."

"Are Mr. and Mrs. Dr. P here?" asked Ron.

Slim looked troubled, "Yep, they turned in early tonight. They left Middleton real early straight from the hospital. Ann wanted to see how a patient was doing one last time before she came up. They swung by and tried to pick up Wade, but he's vanished. Then on the way here they picked up a tail and someone tried to grab them, at least that is what Squirt thinks."

Slim grinned, "Turns out with Jim running the Electronic Warfare and Navigation console, James's Jag can cruise at 140 mph. Having a Lowardian Attack Shuttle meet ya halfway and run escort also helps keep trouble away."

"As for Wade, Pakshok's got his diplomats asking to see him. Mom's got feelers out to figure out which varmints nabbed him. I reckon that if GJ or DHS have him then maybe a couple of us and Ms. Shego can go bust him out. It's a sad day when your own government grabs law-abiding folk. Get some sleep, son. Tomorrow could be an interesting day."

* * *

Ron woke the next morning to the sound of air whooshing from his air mattress. As his body came to rest against the hard floor, he heard Carlynn say,

"Rise and shine, time to get that plucky, somewhat tame, well-meaning, testosterone-soaked, caveman butt up for the morning run. If we hurry, we can do a five-K before noon. Let Rhi sleep, she was up most of the night in the meeting with Leah."

Ron had slept in a tee-shirt and running shorts that Joss had dug up for him the night before, so all he really had to do was make a quick stop to use the bathroom, put his running shoes back on and he was good to go. On the way out, he noticed Rhianna stretched out on a couch, sleeping hard.

Carlynn hadn't been kidding about "before noon", as it was a quarter after eleven when Ron stepped out to find Carlynn, Antubi, Jessica, a white wolf, and all three of the Emperor's Blades waiting for him. The Blades were all heavily weighed down with battle gear.

"Morning Ronald, can I join you?" Ann called out from the kitchen door as she came out.

"Sure, Mrs. Dr. P" Ron answered then pointed to the others saying, "This is Carlynn, Antubi, Warlanse, Warhong, Warluse, and of course you already know Nova and Jessica. People, this is Mrs. Dr. P, your basic bondigitty surgeon who specializes in the brain and nervous system. She is also Kim's mom."

As they started off at an easy running pace, Ron studied his companions as a way to keep his mind from worrying. Watching Carlynn and Antubi flirt as they ran told him that Antubi had managed not to get any of Ron's 'caveman' stench on him. He noticed that Ann and Warluse were in a conversation on their experience in dealing with combat injuries.

That's about the time when Nova thought that Ron was having too easy a time and tried to trip him by running through his legs. Well, she did trip him, but Ron managed to change the impending face plant into a forward diving roll.

"Nova! What the heck?" cried Ron.

Nova snorted and lolled out her tongue in a wolfish laugh. She then raced down the path and paused, looking back at Ron. Ron, taking the bait, pulled on the blue and raced after her.

Freshly showered and sipping a 'fresh from concentrate' glass of James' orange juice/cherry/berry blend, Ann saw Ron wearily jogging up with a white wolf at his side. Sitting next to her was Jessica, Rhianna, and Paksmonga also sipping on juice. Ann held up a glass of juice for Ron while Rhianna held up a tee-shirt and sweatpants.

James, Slim, and Bethany along with Pakshok and Paksmonga were sitting at a nearby table chatting with Warnatius.

Ron chugged the juice in one shot while Nova changed back to human form and slipped on the tee-shirt and sweatpants.

Ron set the empty glass on the table and flopped bonelessly into a chair.

"Ronald, how are you doing, honey?" asked Ann.

"Drained. Between charging all those people last night and this morning's run, I am totally out of MMP," Ron replied, shivering. "It's not a good feeling."

"Ronald, please try to take Rhi to see the Avatar, she is still charged from last night," said Paksmonga. "We have an idea, but need to test this."

Ron looked doubtful, but closed his eyes and concentrated. A short time later, he opened them and said, "Sorry, I don't have enough power to…" He didn't finish because he saw the glassy-eyed look on Rhianna's face. And the look of dread on Ann's face.

* * *

"Hello Rhi," said Paksairlea, "I see you came by yourself this time. It appears that Ron can let you in even when he doesn't have enough MMP to come himself."

"So, what is powering this virtuality?" asked Rhianna, waving her hand to take in the forest.

"Not sure," answered the Avatar. "Maybe it is using the energy from my spirit. But it means we can try the first experiment."

"First escape attempt," corrected Rhianna, "We don't want to kill Ron more than once."

"Child, we are not killing Ron," chided Paksairlea, "he will only be _mostly_ dead. And remember, mostly dead is slightly alive."

* * *

Pakshok stood and addressed those present, "We have everything we need to make an attempt to free the avatar except the 'Chosen One' and the Lotus Blade. If we cannot find Kim Possible in the next two days, we will take Ron back to Lowardia Prime to see if the scientists there can figure out another way."

"I can do it," a young girl said, standing up and holding out her hand.

Ten seconds later the hilt of a softly glowing blue Wakizashi slapped into Joss's hand.

The silence was broken by Slim softly muttering, "Oh for crying out loud, daughter, how much more of this dagnab hoodoo prairie dog droppings you gonna spring on me? Darlin', just plant me in the bone orchard now."[1]

1) Sentinel103 thought I really needed to cut loose on invective at this point. If you look at the series, the worse thing we ever hear James say is "great garden party". With Nana serving in the Navy, you'd think James could do better. But this is Slim we are concerned with. I believe that Slim has bought into the old time cowboy way of life and the problem is that old time cowboys didn't swear - not like I think of swearing anyway. They did have words that might have at one time been real profanity but never made the list of words you can't say on TV. Search the web for "rants-from-the-hill-how-to-cuss-in-western" to find a good article that points out that _anti-fogmatic_ , _tanglefoot_ , _snake poison_ , _bumblebee_ , _clinch mountain_ , _coffin_ varnish, _pop skull_ , _jack of diamonds_ , _prairie dew_ , _rebel soldier_ , _red eye_ , _bottled courage_ , _rookus juice_ , and _oh-be-joyful_ are just some of the terms for whiskey. Sort of like how Eskimos have many words for snow, I guess. Also, it gives examples of colorful expressions like _hot as a whorehouse on nickel night_ and insults like _you're a_ _no count_ , _flannel mouth, chiseling, chuckleheaded, gadabout, coffee boiler_. But I didn't really see any really appropriate words to express your dismay when finding out your daughter has once again, pushed the envelope on this "mystical hoodoo prairie dog droppings".

* * *

"So, Ronald, that is basically what we want to try and we should do it now before you completely recharge on MMP energy," Ann said gently. "But you can say no or not now."

"Let's do it, but can I take a quick shower first?" asked Ron, wishing he could talk to his beloved KP. It wasn't that he needed courage or permission or that he expected to die or anything like that. He just wanted to hear her voice, hear how she was doing, and tell her that he loved her. Smiling, he thought that while he was wishing, he could toss in a few KP kisses.

Ron was broken out of his reverie by a loud sound like a giant ripping canvas cloth. Looking up he saw a line of puffs of smoke high in the sky. Something warm and friendly wrapped itself around his wrist and he felt like it was Kim herself giving him a loving squeeze. Looking down, he saw a friendship bracelet like the ones he had made in camp Wannaweep all those years ago.

Warhong came racing up to the porch. Looking around she asked, "Is everyone OK? Was anybody hit by that projectile? The automatic defenses couldn't stop it."

"Was it this?" Ron asked, holding up his arm. Warhong took his arm and spoke in Lowardian. After apparently getting an answer, she replied, "Yes, the Air Defense Officer believes so. What is it?"

"I'm not sure," Ron said, "It looks like a friendship bracelet I showed KP how to make years ago. Something about it feels like KP. But the ones we made didn't fly so, I'm not sure…"

"What is a 'friendship bracelet'?"

"It's a woven jewelry thing that children make to demonstrate friendship with each other," he replied.

Warhong walked away shaking her head and muttering in Lowardian. [A/N Yes, I was too lazy to make up Lowardian swearing. LOL]

 _ **Call For a Thing**_

Freya sat in a chair by the fire, watching her son pace back and forth in her cottage.

"Freya, am I supposed to abandon justice for the mutilation of my brother?" an angry Thor demanded.

"Son, I believe the best option is to let her wake up and send her back to Midgard. If you want vengeance then simply go cut her throat while she sleeps," said Freya.

"You know I can't do that!" retorted Thor, "'Twould be cowardly to kill a sleeping woman!"

"I expect that Odin will be back in time to convene a Thing next week. Heimdallr will testify that he saw Loki draw first blood with a surprise attack. I guarantee that this trial will be important enough that a jury of thirty-six will be used. Do you believe that you can get a jury of that size that Loki can sway to find Kim guilty? And what if she is? She wants to leave and guilty means that she is declared outlaw and cast out to Midgard. As an outlaw, Loki would be free to hunt and try to kill her, but do you believe that he can? Sif has some prophecy skills, what does she tell you?" Freya took a sip of her tea.

"Sif says that an attack on Kim would result in Loki's death and possible war between Midgard and Asgard. She also says that should Kim be killed, Asgard will be destroyed and maybe Ragnarok will be triggered," Thor admitted.

"That is what I have been telling you for days! How many people have to tell you before you listen!" Freya loved her son, but his head was harder than the Hammer he used to carry.

"Honor must be satisfied!" Thor stressed, "If Kim is declared Outlaw, then honor will be satisfied. With honor satisfied, Loki should have no reason to try to kill Kim. Without a declaration of Kim's guilt, Loki is sure to seek vengeance! And rightly so because Kim struck at his very manhood!"

"I remind you that Loki's claim to manhood was always shaky at best. Besides, Sigyn says his dwarven manhood functions better and longer than his old manhood," Freya said.

"Loki is not a man, he is a god and is above such considerations," Thor explained, "While Sigyn may approve of his dwarven forged manhood, Loki tells me that it does not function with any other female," Thor said, "As for the prophecy of women, I cannot see how the death of one common Midgardian woman could trigger the destruction of such a mighty kingdom as Asgard!"

Thor stopped pacing and faced his mother, "Granted, with the Hammer, Kim is transformed into a mighty Asgardian warrior, but all we have to do is prevent her from calling for Mjöllnir. Even with it, she is still not a god such as Loki or I. But there is only one Mjöllnir, I cannot believe that the weak men of Midgard could be a threat to Asgard no matter what happens to Kim."

"Could Loki beat her in a duel?" Freya asked.

"Loki wouldn't stoop so low as to fight her in a duel, she's a woman!" Thor claimed.

"Yet you assigned her as Captain of my guard for the last attack of the Giants. Again, I ask, could Loki beat her in a duel?" Freya said.

"I am unsure," answered Thor uneasily, "Mjöllnir is a mighty weapon even in her hands and I do not believe that we can make them use dueling swords instead of their personal weapons. If he could use illusion to trick her, then perhaps. I don't think either party would stop at first blood. Holding Mjöllnir changes her spirit as well as her body, if she had been holding Mjöllnir before she attacked Loki, I believe that she would have killed him. A trial at the next Thing is the best solution."

"Where is Loki? Why is he not here arguing his case?"

"I don't know. Sigyn has had a large claim on his time these last few days. Perhaps his injury and replacement of his manhood shame him."

Freya snorted a laugh, "Loki turned into a mare and let a stallion mount him as part of a prank. Surely it is not possible for him to feel shame. Perhaps you should check on him and make sure he is not up to mischief."

 _ **First Attempt at Freedom**_

Ron, dressed in tee-shirt and loose boxers, lay on a scanner table in the Fast Attack Shuttle parked behind the bunkhouse. The Peacemaker's Senior Medical Officer, Commander Paksmonga, lifted up his knees and slid a long cushion under them. She then squeezed past Ann who was putting in an I.V. to move to Ron's head and put a pillow under it.

"Mr. Stoppable, I've turned up the table's heaters, let me know if it gets too warm,", the Lowardian said kindly as she draped what appeared to be a chainmail sheet made of copper and gold rings over him. "Unfortunately, this sensor blanket isn't heated," she added.

"The heat feels nice, thanks," replied Ron. The heat felt good and he could feel his muscles relax.

Down in the next medical bay, Rhianna was already laying on the scanner table. Warluse, the tallest of the Emperor's blades at an inch under eight feet was unwrapping an I.V. kit.

"If this worries you, I will hold off and let Mrs. Dr. P do it," said the huge alien fighter/medic.

"Nope, go for it big guy," Rhianna giggled, holding out her arm. She had never had the inclination to try alcohol, but she was starting to believe that she would be a happy drunk. Ten minutes ago, Ron had dumped MMP into people to exhaust his supply as much as possible and she had helped herself to all she could take from him. She had no need to 'pull the blue'. She was saturated with it.

Her arm was gently but firmly held in a huge hand.

"Make a fist please," asked Warluse then when he saw a vein he liked, smoothly slid in the needle, then removed it leaving behind the catheter. Looking at her face, he asked, "Ms. Rhi, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Fine fine fine fine," said Rhianna, "I think I loaded up with too much MMP and it's making me a little silly."

Taping down the tubing to her arm, he asked, "Are you sure you are fit for the mission? Do we need to wait and let you recover?"

"No. No! I'm good!" she closed her eyes and when she reopened them, they actually glowed with a bluish light. Tiny faint blue flames seemed to dance over her exposed skin. Warluse would later swear that he could hear the faint cooing of some sort of large group of animals.

"I'm ready. If we wait too long, Ron will start to recharge his MMP," Rhianna declared looking up to see Ann watching her.

"You sure?" Ann had come down to see if Rhianna was ready for them to start putting Ron under. They weren't expecting for there to be any problems concerning her, but Ann wanted her loosely dressed, an I.V. started, and a medic watching her just in case.

"Yes, Ma'am. I'm sober and ready. Really. I won't fail Ron and Leah," Rhianna replied.

"OK, Rhi honey, you go meet with the Avatar and we'll put Ron in a coma," said Ann. Stepping back to the corridor, she called out, "OK, Ron, pull Rhi to the Avatar."

After a few seconds, Warluse heard the cooing sounds change to calls of greeting and saw Rhianna's face relax. "I think she has made contact Mrs. Dr. P."

"Call me if you see any signs of distress," Ann turned to walk back to Ron suppressing the urge to roll her eyes. Ron had introduced her as 'Mrs. Dr. P.' and except for the Lowardian command-grade officers, that name had stuck.

Sitting down by Ron, she told Joss, "Honey, take the Lotus Blade outside and make sure it stays outside with you."

Joss started to give Ron a pat on the shoulder, but her hand was intercepted by Paksmonga.

"Oh, right, sorry, I forgot. Good luck Ron," Joss blushed and ran out of the shuttle.

"Thanks, Joss," Ron took a deep breath trying to relive building tension and worry.

Paksmonga gave a hard look at Jessica who had been trying her best to sit invisible and unnoticed in the corner of the little medical bay. "Can you refrain from touching him?" she asked.

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll keep my hands and my MMP to myself," replied Jessica.

Paksmonga looked at the young man. "Mr. Stoppable, are you ready for this?"

"Yeah, as much as I can be. I feel really drained. Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll work the first time. Call me Ron, no need to be formal, after all, you're about to kill me." said Ron with fake cheeriness.

"Mr. Stoppable," Paksmonga looked annoyed. And a bit scary. "Don't insult me, I will bring you back. I swear it." Her hand on his shoulder took the sting out of her words.

Ron looked up at Ann, tried to think of something funny or brave to tell her, but came up blank. "Mrs. Dr. P, I'm ready when you are."

"OK Ron, count backward from seventy-three by fours," commanded Ann gently. She emptied a syringe into the drug port on the I.V. She reached under the sensor blanket and took his hand.

"Seventy-three…, sixty-nine…., sixty-five…, sixty-one…, uh, fifty…fifty…" and Ron was out.

Ann reached up with her free hand and pulled one of the diagnostic screens down to her eye level so she could watch them easier. She had a half-dozen syringes already prepared and waiting on a tray next to her.

Paksmonga started adjusting settings on her console. She called out to Ann, "Changing heating units over to fast chillers, increasing blood oxygen saturation. Cardiac and mental process arrest in ten minutes."

Ann felt Ron's limp hand slowly grow cold…

 _ **Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar**_

(Or as Steven King once said, "Sometimes a cigar is just a smoke, sometimes a story is just a story.)

"Leah! Leah! Where are you?" Rhianna had found herself in the Avatar's mystical forest for a short moment before everything grayed out and she was lost in an impenetrable fog. Soon she heard Ron screaming in despair and sorrow and a faint red glow in the distance. The fog blew away in a sharp gust of wind. She found herself in a waiting area with a viewing window into a large room, a hospital perhaps. Corridors connected to both ends of the waiting area.

"Rhi! You're here!" she heard Paksairlea say as strong green arms wrapped around her.

"Leah! What was that screaming I heard? Was that Ron?" ask Rhianna.

"Ron was not reacting well to the drugs. That was an old nightmare that I managed to break him out of. This is new…" Paksairlea looked around.

"Ron!" Rhianna called out to Ron walking down the corridor. Ron walked past the two without stopping or even appearing to see them. He took the hand of a smiling young red-haired woman. She quickly dragged him inside a door that had just appeared. On the door was a sign that said 'Contribution Room'. As the door closed, Rhianna managed to catch a view of a bed and lots of candles. She thought that Ron looked like he was happy to go in, even eager.

"Is that Kim?" Rhianna asked.

"Yes, that's Kim. I think the drugs have pulled him too deep for us to interact with him in this dream." Paksairlea replied.

An obviously pregnant and happy Kim came walking arm in arm with Ron from the other direction and were ushered by a nurse into another door that had appeared. This door had a sign that said 'Labor and Delivery'.

Next, they saw Ron in the room on the other side of the observation window looking into a baby bassinet. He picked the baby up and cuddled it with a look of joy on his face. The nameplate on the bassinet said "Stormrider".

For the next several minutes, they stood and watched an increasingly harried Ron run back and forth from room to room. A third door appeared. That door led to a dojo of some sort where Ron was drilling toddlers in the proper technique for turning pages in a book. 'What the heck?' thought Rhianna, 'Has Ron lost his mind?'

Soon a line of Kims mixed with a few other women had formed outside the door to the "Contribution Room" and grew in length until it stretched down the hallway. At the other side of the waiting room, a line of very pregnant Kims mixed with a few other very pregnant women formed outside the labor and delivery room and soon stretched down the other hallway. All the women in the lines were laughing and talking to each other. Baby bassinets kept appearing in the room behind the viewing window. That room kept expanding as more and more babies were rolled in. All the bassinets had the same name, "Stormrider".

Curious, Rhianna walked over to the line of Kims outside the bedroom. They paid no attention to her, just kept talking and laughing. Their words were just on the edge of being intelligible. Try as she might, Rhianna could not make out what they were talking about.

"Rhi, I don't think that Ron knows what topics to have these dream women talk about. I find it interesting that all the women in his dream all seem very happy," said Paksairlea.

"Leah, I understand why Kim is here, but who are these other women?"

"Rhi, that is something that is private to Ron. I will not say." Paksairlea replied.

"And the labels on the bassinets that say 'Stormrider'?"

"That is a fascinating story, but again, not mine to tell, Rhi."

"Odd," remarked Rhianna, "My mother's maiden name was Stormrider."

Paksairlea stopped cold, "OK, the ten-second summary is that Ron has two biological mothers that contributed to his DNA, Jean Stoppable and Jennifer Stormrider. The maternal DNA that he will contribute to his children is nearly one hundred percent from Jennifer Stormrider."

Rhianna squealed with delight, "Wow, we're cousins! That must be why I feel so safe around him! Oh… Wait a minute… We might not be kissing cousins. Hmm…"

"When you get back, tell Mrs. Dr. P. She can do a DNA test and tell you how close in the family tree you are." Paksairlea suggested. The two observers went back to watching Ron race around.

The next time Ron raced out of the toddler dojo to accompany the next woman in line into the 'Contribution Room', Paksairlea noticed that the little ones seemed to look right at her. "Maybe we can interact with part of this strange dream…" she said and walked into the dojo followed by Rhianna.

As Avatar walked into the room and sat in front of the group, all the children, as one, silently tracked the Avatar with their eyes. She opened a book with the pages facing the children. As one, the children all opened their book. Rhianna swore this was a scene out of some horror movie.

"Turn the page…," Paksairlea said, showing them how to turn a page. As one, all the children tried it. Rhianna walked around behind the children, trying to help those that seemed to not quite understand. At one point, Ron started to come in, but nodded in thanks, turned around and left when he saw the children were in good hands.

"You're welcome, Ron!" Rhianna shouted at Ron's retreating back. "You're on your own for the other two rooms!" she added to Paksairlea's laugh.

Paksairlea and Rhianna continued the page turning drills with their tiny students when suddenly, the children all stopped and stared straight ahead. The women outside became silent. Paksairlea got up and ran out in the hallway to see what was going on. All the Kims and the other women had stopped talking and were all now staring at the clock. It had stopped at exactly ten minutes after three.

"Rhi, get ready, I believe that Ron's crashing!" said Paksairlea breaking the absolute silence.

 _ **Sun Wukong**_

"Invoking cardiac arrest and suppressing mental functions," said Paksmonga. Ann nodded grimly and watched her displays flatline.

"Restarting in five minutes…" the Commander said as she adjusted controls.

Unnoticed and alone in her corner, Jessica began to pray for her friend.

* * *

Rhianna found herself at the edge of a temple courtyard. Hearing a woman begging and then screaming, she took off at a run looking for that woman. Flinging the temple's doors open, she saw Paksairlea scream a final time and then disappear in a flash of light. Blinking the spots from her eyes, she saw four green jade statues where her friend used to be. A group of men stood nearby congratulating themselves. Jumping when a hand was placed on her shoulder she turned to see a pale Paksairlea.

"Rhi," this is just a memory, it's not something we can interact with. But," Paksairlea growled, "it's not my memory!"

"Hello, White Blossom," said a man standing behind them. The man was of average build, had prominent ears, and a short beard with hair growing high up the sides of his face. "Have you come to apologize?" he asked, plucking a hair out of his beard and dropping it on the ground.

Paksairlea screamed in wordless rage and punched him with such fury he was knocked through the stone wall of the temple and into the courtyard. Still screaming, Paksairlea jumped through the hole snatching the Lotus Blade out of the air and began attacking the man with a ferocity that Rhianna would not have expected from the typically peaceful and serene Avatar. The man produced a black iron staff and the two battled with wild abandon.

A hand gripped her shoulder and pulled Rhianna out the door just as the temple collapsed due to the weakened wall.

Turning, Rhianna saw the same man that her friend was fighting in the courtyard.

"She doesn't seem to be sorry at all for rejecting me, he huffed. "Still, I suppose that I might have overreacted by binding her to the statues."

"You're the Monkey King?" It was clear from the growl in Rhianna's voice that she was less than a dozen heartbeats away from trying her Monkey Kung Fu skills out.

"Sun Wukong, at your service, young warrior," the man bowed low and continued, "Instead of trying to beat my old body bloody, perhaps you would rather learn how to free your friend?" replied the Monkey King.

"Wait… I thought this was a memory and couldn't be affected?" Rhianna said, looking at the collapsed temple.

"It _was_ until I showed up. White Blossom's desire to beat me to death caused a partial copy of our surroundings to be made in her own bubble of virtuality," he replied.

Hearing a crash, Rhianna turned to watch the contest between her friend and the Monkey King.

"OK… Uh, why did she just call you a 'tofu-eating egg of a tortoise'? Whoa, do WHAT 'to all your ancestors to the eighteenth generation'!? Never mind, I think I can figure that last insult out."

The Monkey King shouted with laughter. So, this is what it must feel like for others to deal with his randomness. But, time was short and he did go overboard a little bit in punishing the researcher. Even though she did deserve it.

Turning at his laugh, she turned to see the Monkey King was now sitting at a table looking through stacks of papers. The memory papers that she had been helping Paksairlea with.

"Wait just a minute, those are private papers!" Rhianna scolded.

The Monkey King shrugged, "Then you shouldn't have left them laying around. I can see that Ronald Stoppable isn't quite what I had in mind as a Monkey Master…"

"Ron is a hero!" argued Rhianna.

"I didn't say that he wasn't, but giving the kid some training would have been nice. I guess the Avatar didn't work as well as I had hoped…" the now bespectacled Monkey King groused, rummaging through the papers. "Let's see, Hmm. Why is Ron speaking with a silly accent and what does 'crikey' mean? I think he would be more serious in this situ…"[1]

"Give me that page!" Rhianna interrupted, snatching the page away from the Monkey King, "That's private!" Folding the paper up, she started to stuff it in her pocket, but not having any pockets she just clenched it in her fist.

Unperturbed, Sun kept rapidly flipping through pages.

"Ah!" he said, "Here is the problem. Hiding the statutes kept the Avatar isolated for years. Idiots! I wonder if she is still even sane?"

"Leah is sane, but her memory is messed up," admitted Rhianna, another crash making her look at the battle again.

"Focus, young warrior," he said, snapping his fingers to get her attention, "See the blade she is trying to remove my head with? It is a shadow of the real Lotus Blade. The plan was to have her call the blade and since the real Lotus Blade cannot cross into mystical virtualities, it would pull her back to the real world, correct?"

"Yes," Rhianna looked crushed realizing that this attempt had failed.

"This demonstrates the difficulty that you must overcome to free her," he continued, "She called the blade to punish me and the MMP that is surrounding us created a shadow version. Only when host's MMP was not present in sufficient quantity will the real Lotus Blade respond.

"But we drained as much as we could of Ron's MMP!" Rhianna wailed.

"Try it again, then finish draining the rest with combat. You will know when Ronald is close to empty when the Lotus Blade resonates physically with his failing glow. Once that happens, continue to have Ronald drain his MMP with combat while White Blossom calls the Lotus Blade and dismisses the shadow copy. She will be pulled into reality when a shadow copy cannot be made."

"What will happen to Ron?" Rhianna asked.

"For that, you must throw the dice and see," he replied, adding for good measure, "Having a good doctor in the area would be prudent."

"Why do you call her White Blossom?"

Sun Wukong laughed again, maybe this young person would someday be worthy of being his apprentice. She certainly had the randomness. If only she was his White Blossom…

"When I first laid eyes on her, I beheld a tall beauty with skin as white and pure as the new snow. I knew then that I must possess her." Sun looked critically at Rhianna. "Unlike you with your dark skin the color of common dirt."

"But she's green!" protested Rhianna.

Sun gave a mighty sigh, "True, her white skin was a ruse to help her slip into the village more discretely," then he laughed, "Discretely indeed! Her glorious height and extreme beauty set her apart from all other women. To be honest, her green skin has an allure all its own."

A sudden gathering of clouds darkened the sky. Sun Wukong glanced up at them and became serious, saying, "You must remember these seven things: Have Ronald fight to drain the last of his MMP. When the Lotus Blade reacts, you will know he is close to empty. Do not let the Lotus Blade touch Ron. White Blossom can pull herself free by calling the true blade to her. Make sure you give Ronald the needle outside in the open. Tell him the rings will solve his 'fertility leper' problem."

He looked at his other self, who had managed to disarm the angry Lowardian. He held her bent over backward kissing her passionately, oblivious to the bone breaking body blows she was raining down on him with her fists. He nodded with approval.

"What needle? What rings?" asked Rhianna.

"I never did get to see whether her skin is uniformly green all over," he sighed with disappointment.

"WHAT NEEDLE! WHAT RINGS!" Rhianna shouted.

"No need to shout, young one, I am not deaf," Sun looked offended. "The rings are on this needle," he said pulling a large sewing needle from behind his ear and driving it through her forearm as thunder boomed from the heavens.

1) See Graduation-in-Early-MAYhem, chapter 17, first "scene"

* * *

Paksmonga announced, "Time is up, let's bring Mr. Stoppable back to the living," as she adjusted controls and flipped switches.

Ann jumped when she heard Rhianna scream from the second med bay.

"Go, Ann. I can care for Mr. Stoppable," said the ship's physician.

Ann got up and dashed the short distance to the next bay. Jessica also got up but looked torn about where to go. Finally, she sat down in the seat Ann had just vacated and waited for the flat lines on the display to show movement.

"Ms. Fields, perhaps you should hold his hand. If you can, put back some of the mystical energy he gave you." Paksmonga suggested.

Jessica reached under the sensor blanket and took Ron's hand. It was so cold and limp. Tears appeared in her eyes as she tried unsuccessfully to give back some of the MMP.

Ann arrived to find that Warluse was holding Rhianna's arm immobilized. An arm with a large golden upholstery size sewing needle sticking through it.

"…his ancestors to the 18th generation!" Rhianna gritted out in pain, then screamed, "That tofu eating egg from a tortoise! He only told me six things!"

Ann, hoping that pain relief would be safe, injected a nerve block into her upper arm. She saw Rhianna's face immediately relax with relief as her entire arm from her elbow down went numb.

"The Monkey King stuck it there. Says for me to give it to Ron, but to make sure we are outside when we give it to him. Maybe we had better go outside before you remove it? How is Ron? Is he awake yet?" Rhianna found it much easier to not spew profanities with the pain gone. "Oh. Leah told me to tell you that Mom's maiden name was Stormrider and that you could test my DNA to see if we are cousins."

"You mean, are you 'kissing cousins'?" Ann teased.

"No Ma'am," Rhianna blushed, "I mean he's cute and makes me feel safe and all, but I'm not thinking about that just yet. Besides, that boy is a goner for Kim. You know what I mean?"

"Yes dear, he's been a goner for longer than he realizes. Rhi, what's that paper you are holding in your hand..."


	11. Rescue Plans

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable editing on parts of this story. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

Any appearance or mention of Wanda Wang and/or Suzie Chin are thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in his epic "Once Again" story arc.

Antubi Noratu appears also thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in "The Hunter: Book One"

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **Freedom**_

Pakshok had seen many strange things in his career, both beautiful, wondrous things and awful, nightmare-inducing things. But this mission was raising the bar. He looked at Ron Stoppable, shaky from his trip to death's door but standing next to a three-feet-thick by twenty-feet-tall black pillar with gold bands. He and his friends were examining it along with the girl Rhianna who had brought it back from a mystical trance. A being named Sun Wukong gave it to her and apparently to make it easy to transport back to reality had turned it into a golden needle and stuck the needle through her arm.

His superiors were going to have a field day with his final mission report. Fortunately, they had video evidence of a human doctor pulling it out of the young girl's arm where it immediately expanded it into this black pillar. Initial spectral analysis showed it to be made of simple ductile iron with gold bands at the top and bottom.

In addition, the investigative report had come back. The missing red-haired fury was apparently off the planet. A science team had been dispatched and was currently measuring residue of what they claimed were actually interdimensional portals. They were tossing around the word "wormhole".

Finally, the icing on the cake was the arrival of the Emperor's message saying that rescuing the Avatar Paksairlea was now the Peacemaker's number one priority.

Ron reached out and stroked the pillar and it shrank down to become a normal-sized bo staff. Picking it up and giving it a twirl, the young man looked pleased and his companions cheered. Looking at the human adults sitting on the back porch and watching, he thought their lack of amazement was telling. What kind of adventures had these young people had that their parents showed little surprise about marvels like the staff. Or for that matter, that their daughter had taken a portal of some sort and was now off-planet?

Pakshok finished his beer and went to round up people to start planning the next attempt at a rescue mission.

The catering crew along with several spacers started up the charcoal. James had decided to not share his LOX enhanced grilling technology, so to Ann's great relief, they were using plain charcoal to grill the brats and burgers.

They were just starting to pull food off the grill when the planning meeting ended.

The group's decision was to give Ron overnight to recover and try the rescue attempt in the morning. Instead of using technology and medicine to nearly kill the young man, they were going to do it the old-fashioned way.

* * *

The next morning Pakshok found himself sitting on the ground so the young human would not have to keep looking up at him. At first, he found this "Facilitator/Arbitrator" was amusing, but he was starting to think he should put in a request to recruit her for the Peacemaker once her education was complete.

"OK, Commander, we have already discussed the "no killing blows" and exactly what that means for a human and some," she glared at him, "of what it means for a Lowardian."

"Jessica, all the Emperor's Blades are bio-technically enhanced and harder to kill than say, myself. As long as we agree on no chopping off of body parts, they will be fine."

"So, stab wounds are OK?"

"Yes, we have a fine medical doctor with us. But let's agree that no stabbing in the neck or head is allowed."

"OK, I'm also adding 'no yanking out organs' on the list of rules for Ron before I forget." Jessica sounded like she was making a grocery list.

"Now, I'm worried about what Joss might do," Jessica said, "No, don't laugh, Commander! She is scared half to death that she will fail Ron and get him killed somehow or that she will hurt one of your people. Scared people do unexpected things and that can be dangerous. And we agree that only Joss is allowed an edged weapon?"

"Yes, since she will panic and not think clearly about her weapon choice, I will tell our fighters to be extra careful around the little girl," Pakshok said just to watch Jessica glare back at him.

"Last thing on my list," Jessica indeed glared back. "Ron has something we call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The fight where he and Kim killed the Lowardian messed up both of them. I don't know about Kim, but Ron occasionally has nightmares where we have to wake him before he destroys his surroundings," Jessica sounded like she didn't expect to be taken seriously.

"He fights in his sleep?"

"Not really, things start to move around like there is a storm, except there is no wind. The light in the area turns blue. Sometimes we can hear screaming monkeys. What I am saying is that Ron is more dangerous than he looks and can be more dangerous than he intends to be. Does the word 'berserk' translate for you?"

"Yes."

"Well, if things start to go to hell in a handbasket, I want you to back everybody off for two minutes and let Dr. Drakken, Shego, and myself handle Ron before you take any action."

"What can you do? You aren't a warrior," Pakshok wasn't sure where 'hell in a handbasket' was, but assumed it was bad.

"I can handle Ron. Trust me. I've done it before."

Ron stood with his hands on Rhianna's shoulders at the edge of Kim's meditation meadow. "Makeout meadow" he liked to think of it now, although those days seemed like a past life. Everybody except for the Lowardians on guard duty stood at the edge of the meadow. He decided that he felt better knowing that Drakken and Shego were watching his back and prepared to help stop him if he went berserk. The MMP flowed easily into Rhianna through his hands, almost as if she was pulling it from him. When he couldn't transfer any more to Rhi, Ron found he still had enough to reach for the MMP's blue. But he did not reach for the rage, this was a battle to his finish, but not to anyone's death.

Joss, already charged, was pacing in front of this worrying, "Ron, what if I screw up? You might die! I could hurt someone!"

"Joss, it will be OK, think of this as a sparring match, not a real fight. The important thing is to keep the Lotus Blade busy and do not let it come to me, OK?"

"Are you sure I can't take your place, Joss?" Rhianna asked again. "I know _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_ pretty well."

"Hold out your hand and think somethin' like 'Come to me, I need you'." Joss told her. The packed-to-the-gills-with-MMP young woman held out her hand and closed her eyes. Sweat broke out on her face from the concentration.

The Lotus Blade lay unmoving in Joss's open hands.

"Sorry Rhi, it appears that you just aren't a 'Chosen One'," Ron said softly, putting his hand on Rhianna's shoulder trying to comfort her. "I know you are better at _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_ than Joss, but maybe Joss is what the Lotus Blade needs for this sitch."

Ron turned to look Joss in the eyes, "Joss, relax and let the MMP flow over you. Lean on it, let it hug you, support you. You will do fine. KP will be proud. We will all be proud."

He thought back to the email he got from Awanata and Joseph with a picture of a sonogram 'baby blob' and the 'deposit' he had left for Kim. 'If it costs my life to set Leah free after all these years, _'_ the blond teen thought to himself, 'at least I will have left behind a small mark on the world.' He shook his head to help clear it of doubts as he mentally got ready for what could be his last fight.

Pakshok walked over with Jessica, and their opponents, Warhong and Warlanse. Warhong was female, certainly smaller than Warmonga, but still towered over Joss. Warlanse was male, seven-feet, nine-inches tall and to Ron, seemed nearly as wide as he was tall.

Jessica read the summary of the rules, but Ron didn't really hear them, the important thing for him was that nobody kills today, nobody dies today. OK to hurt, killing is against the rules. Ron's MMP reserves were already low. He had imbued people for one last meeting with Paksairlea this morning plus he just imbued Rhianna and Joss. He was about to see what his MMP reserves were really like. Jessica and Rhianna walked over to stand with Drakken and Shego.

Joss stood with the Wakizashi in a low guard position. She really had no idea what to do from there and was really trying to let the MMP guide her.

Pakshok shouted "Begin!" and the battle started. There was no measuring, posturing, or probing defenses by the Lowardians. They simply assaulted the two teens. Joss, with a squeak, reflexively transformed the Lotus Blade into a shield and used it to propel her diving attacker over and behind her.

Ron and Warlanse simply collided like two freight trains. Only Ron was able to set himself and it was the much larger Emperor's Blade that bounced back in a flash of blue. Before the fighter could reset for another attack, Ron did his Wing Chun ripple punch to drive him off balance, then followed with a double punch to the torso. Which barely moved his much larger opponent.

Joss next tried to "Lotus Lasso" Warhong. The attack was novel to Warhong, but she quickly realized that ropes pull in both directions and yanked Joss off her feet. She next attempted a simple body drop on her young opponent but she received a painful blow to her ribs when the Lotus Blade turned into a short pole sticking up from the ground to protect Joss. Warhong rolled away and bounced to her feet. She was pretty sure that she cracked a rib or two on that move.

Deciding to be more careful and less flashy, she commanded her body's internal pharmacy module to dispense painkillers and closed more carefully on Joss only to have to leap back as a pike shot out towards her face. She swore that she heard her tiny foe yell "Sorry!", then laughed as she remembered the 'no stabbing in the face' rule declared by the human 'facilitator'.

Her tiny foe wasn't much of a fighter, but certainly had the sheer guts, honor and spirit of a hero. She would pay tribute to this tiny foe by battling her honestly. Making a feint to draw the pike's point to her body, she parried the point to the side and stepped inside the point to press her attack.

Ron was now into full _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_ mode, dodging, leaping and striking when he saw Joss's opponent parry the pike aside and step in to get close enough for a hammer blow. Ron bounced to the side and delivered a spinning kick to Warhong. At the same time, Joss changed the pike to a short spear desperately trying to adjust to the closer attacker. The result was that Warhong was kicked onto the spear and it penetrated her battle suit, piercing her side.

Warlanse dropped low to deliver his own spinning kick to take Ron's legs out from under him. but Ron backflipped over the kick and delivered two palm strikes to his opponent. The huge Lowardian simply shook off the blows and struck back with punches to Ron's midsection, dropping Ron to his knees. Afraid that finishing off Ron now would be too soon, Warlanse jumped over and slowly started a very flashy spinning kick that would take out Joss who was desperately trying to stop the bleeding from Warhong's spear wound while calling for medical help.

Ron, totally sucked into the ruse, leaped at the huge fighter, tackling both of them to the ground. Rolling apart and to their feet, the two faced off again. There was a dull, muffled, ringing noise and the Lotus Blade currently wrapped around Joss's arm started flickering in time to the flickering of the faint blue glow from Ron.

"Halt!" cried Pakshok, "Clear the fallen off the field!"

'My child, we have hit resonance. I think it is working!' a soft, excited voice whispered to Ron.

Two spacers rushed to where Joss was desperately trying to stop the bleeding caused by the spear wound. "Miss, you may let go now, she is no longer bleeding."

Joss carefully took her hand away and saw that the wound was still open and raw, but the bleeding had stopped.

"Miss," said Pakshok, "I am only now becoming knowledgeable of what a Valkyrie is, but the title suits you. No matter what else happens today, I am certain that the Emperor would be glad to count you as one of his own."

"Thanks, I reckon," Joss tried to stand up but staggered.

Pakshok steadied her before she could fall and waved for a spacer to pick up the spent Valkyrie and take her off the field.

Ron spat blood and accepted a sip of water from Pakshok.

"Let's finish this, I don't want to recover and have to start over," Ron said.

Ron bowed to the Emperor's Blade who respectfully returned the bow. His opponent suddenly grinned and said, "Ripping hearts out with bare hands is not allowed, right?"

Ron sighed and moved into a stance suitable for attack or defense, "Not allowed unless you hurt my sisters."

"No one shall hurt them while I live," was the serious reply.

Eyes narrowing, "That's my job," said Ron, launching into an attack.

The fight was a savage display of brute force over finesse. Ron switched to _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_ while his opponent used a style based on the fighter always being balanced, similar to Ron's own Wing Chun. Both men were taking hits, but Ron was taking more of a serious beating to his much smaller body.

Rhi felt, rather than saw the instant that Ron's MMP was exhausted. She started to move forward, but Shego's hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Ron broke contact for a second and thought, 'Big Momma, how are we doing?'

'Almost there my child, the resonance is really strong _. Can_ you hold on a little longer?' came the excited reply.

'See you on the other side, my friend,' Ron replied and reached deep for his own power.

They saw Ron find a reserve of energy somewhere and renewed his intense assault on the Lowardian. The Lowardian, feeling that Ron's end was near pressed back with furious blocks and counter blows.

Jessica screamed when Ron, having stumbled, was thrown to the ground in a savage hip throw, bounced, but did not move. His opponent sank to his knees beside the defeated blond, checking for a pulse.

Spacers raced out to where Ron lay unmoving and lifted up a barely conscious Lowardian female clutching the Lotus Blade to her like a stuffed toy.

Rhianna broke free and rushed to Ron's side, dropping to her knees. Leaning over Ron, sliding one arm under him cradling his head, and putting the other on his chest, she cried, "Please speak to me! You know I love you! Goddammit! Ron Stoppable, don't you die on me! Open those fucking eyes!"

Ron managed to partly open one eye, "Nag, nag, nag."

Laughing, Rhi bent down and gently touched her forehead to his, the only spot she could see that was uninjured.

"Help me stand up," Ron told her.

Rhianna and Jessica helped Ron to stand and then Ron reached a hand down to assist his opponent to his feet. Starting to walk unsteadily off the field of battle, he heard Ann say, "Ron, lie down honey, we'll get a stretcher."

"I'll leave the field on my own power, Mrs. Dr. P," Ron replied as Shego pulled a protesting Ann away from Ron.

Ron looked at the others, "But if my bondiggity sisters want to hold onto my arm, I wouldn't mind."

"Oh, _Ben_ , you're our hero," Carlynn rolled her eyes and continued, "No more Clint Eastwood movie marathons for you and Rhi." She went up on tiptoe and gently gave Ron a small peck on his cheek, murmuring, "good job, caveman."

As Ron limped off the field, he heard Shego ask, "What was that for?"

"Well, I think you usually slap football players on the butt when you say 'good job', but I was afraid that his hip was bruised," Carlynn replied, "so I improvised."

 _ **System Testing**_

Loki slipped out of bed and looked back at Sigyn, a sleeping puddle of well-pleasured goddess. He walked on unsteady legs to get a flagon of water. In an uncharacteristic gesture of caring, he brought back one for his love and sat it on the bedside stand for when she woke up.

'She really is my love,' he thought, considering that she was prophesied to save him from the torture of dripping poison for nearly an eternity by holding a bowl over his head to catch the poison.

She had led him eagerly to her bed to 'test out' the dwarven replacement parts Eir had installed to replace the flesh ones stolen from him by that evil bitch Lady Kim. They had spent the day and most of the night making love. Love that was sweet and slow, love that was madly passionate, love that he suspected might have been mistaken for an earthquake by people outside the castle. He had suspected that Sindri and Brokk would have played a trick on him when they created his replacement parts, but the amount of pleasures he had felt and the amount of pleasures that Sigyn has received were well, truly godlike.

He stroked her hair and got up intending to shower, dress and check to see if Thor had Lady Kim in custody when a graceful hand touched his wrist.

"One more time, my darling?"

Finding out about Lady Kim could wait.

 _ **Cousins & Complications**_

It was a short walk to the medical bay in the attack shuttle now parked next to the combat area. Ron was helped through the doorway and was taken charge of by Warluse the team medic of the Emperor's Blades.

"OK Ronald, strip and pop into this shower and rinse off. Don't swallow any water, it has cleansers and antibiotic chemicals in it. This knob adjusts pressure, this one adjusts temperature, this button activates the blow dryer. Here is a shirt to put on when you are done." Seeing how unsteady Ron seemed on his feet, the medic asked, "I think you need help."

"I can help him!" Rhianna chirped.

"Miss Pimm, please wait outside and stop teasing my patient," the Lowardian replied, helping Ron into a shower that would have been tight for a Lowardian, but was roomy for Ron.

"I wasn't teasing," grumped Rhianna to herself stepping back into the main entryway, "I've washed our dog in the shower plenty of times…"

When Warluse had helped Ron wash the blood, dirt, and sweat off his body then dressed in a long tee shirt, they went to the aft medical bay.

Paksmonga was waiting, "'Luse, slide Ron in next to 'Airlea. They are both skinny and I can run scans on both at the same time."

As the big medic effortlessly lifted Ron onto the scanner table next to a sleeping Paksairlea, Ron looked over at his… Friend? Certainly. Mentor? That too. He called her 'Big Momma' as a tease, but maybe she was more of a big sister. Freeing this person was a big personal victory as far as he was concerned. Fighting to save someone was far more satisfying than fighting to defeat a supervillain. It felt great.

"Is she going to be OK?", he asked the combat medic.

"I'd bet on it. Commander Paksmonga was a highly respected general healer and teacher until she decided that she wanted to see the stars. We all believe that if you are the least bit alive when she gets to you, she will keep you alive until she can heal you or get you healed."

"Mrs. Dr. P has the same reputation among soldiers in this world," Ron replied.

"You two know we are both right here, right?" Ann jested as Paksmonga programmed the scanners. Soon a wide metal bar unfolded from the wall and began to sweep up and down over Ron and Paksairlea's bodies.

"I need to go check on Warhong, I'll be back shortly. The diagnostic scanner is on auto-scan and analyze. If you want to stop it, just block the sensor arm and it will retract and turn off." said Paksmonga, leaving the small room.

"Ron, I brought Rhi in here because I have something that you both should know. Rhi's mother's maiden name is Stormrider."

"Whoa," said Ron, "Cousins? Man, what are the odds?"

"DNAmy just confirmed my initial test, genetically, you are half brother and sister. I have to check, but I suspect that her mother and Jennifer Stormrider were identical twins," Ann said, thinking to herself, 'Unless Jennifer Stormrider didn't really die two years before Rhi was born.'

'Definitely not kissing cousins,' thought Rhianna, less disappointed than she expected.

"Rhi, may I call you 'my child'?" said a sleepy female voice

* * *

Paksmonga slipped down the corridor and into the second medical bay. Warluse had used a combat knife to make his wounded teammate's battle suit a crop-top to expose the wound on her side. She was laying on a table with a dozen slender mechanical arms hard at work weaving new tissue in the hole in her side. Sitting on a stool was the small red-haired girl, her eyes red from weeping and wringing her hands in distress.

"'Monga, please tell Joss that I will soon be as good as ever and that in a fight, people sometimes get hurt and that she mustn't feel bad about hurting me because that was her job!" Warhong was clearly frustrated.

Paksmonga dropped to her knees to be at eye level with the girl. "Joss," she said softly, "you were in a situation that you were not trained for. You did what was important, you kept the Lotus Blade in action and that allowed us to rescue the Avatar from her imprisonment of centuries."

"But I almost stabbed her in the face!" Joss nearly sobbed, "That was cheat'n! And then I couldn't yank the spear out of the way fast enough! What if I had stabbed something important, like a kidney or an ovary or…"

Paksmonga stopped the annoying wailing by reaching out and pulling her into a massive hug. Lowardians hugged, of course, many races and species did, but small humans seemed especially needy of hugs.

"Come, Joss," she said, "Let's let Warhong rest." She leaned over her patient and winked as she covered the top half of the wounded fighter's chest with a light blanket. Warhong grinned and mouthed "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you."

* * *

"Ron Stoppable…"

Ron woke to someone calling his name. Drowsy, he looked to see where he was, still on the table in the medical bay, still laying next to a sleeping Paksairlea, still having the scanner arm sweeping up and down over his body. Except now, it was applying some kind of energy to his body, he felt soothing warmth from the bar as it passed over him.

"Ron Stoppable…"

The voice seemed to come from the scanner bar. Looking at the bar as it approached, he saw a slender woman, long black hair tied in a loose ponytail, dark eyes, wearing jeans, a green T-shirt with a white shamrock and barefoot. And not an inch over two feet tall.

It was the leprechaun sitting on the moving bar.

"Mr. Stoppable, who is this person and why is she riding on my equipment?" Paksmonga said in her best stern Lowardian Chief Medical Officer voice as she entered the bay.

"You see her too?" Ron replied, "I think she is a river fairy."

"Yes, Mr. Stoppable, I see her. The pain relief and contusion treatments are not known for having hallucinations as side effects."

"Ron Stoppable, your Kimberly requires your help. I'm Fae, not a fairy, fairies are tiny annoying creatures that flit around on wings." the tiny woman said as she rode the sensor bar back to the foot of the table.

"Do we need to pay you a coin this time?" the former Avatar was awake.

"No payment required or accepted for this, I am here at the request of a very distant relative," was the reply. "I was told that this would tell you where to go," she said dropping Kim's Kimmunicator in Ron's lap and continuing, "you must be there at noon of the day after the day after tomorrow, bring less than ten people including yourself and a lawyer. At that time, you will be met by people who can take you to where she is being held. You will have until sundown of that day to prepare to leave."

The tiny woman thought for a moment, then said, "Think of Kimberly being in the custody of crazy Norse Viking types who are going to put her on trial."

Ron was trying to think of a good question to ask when he heard Rhianna chime in, "Me, Jessica, Ron, Dr. Drakken, Shego, the three Blades, and a lawyer from the Peacemaker."

"What?" asked Ron.

"The rescue team, I'm currently the strongest MMP powered person, Jessica 'cause we need someone with brains, you 'cause you'd complain if we didn't take you. Then Drakken, Shego, and the Blades 'cause they are badass, along with a Lowardian lawyer 'cause they are more likely to have seen weird shit."

While Ron was regaining the ability to speak, Paksmonga started, "Young one, you are too quick to assign Peacemaker personnel.

"No! No way are you going on a rescue mission, You're too inexperienced!", declared Ron.

"Commander, Ma'am, Ron just got the crap stomped out of him to set Leah free, YOU OWE HIM!" Rhianna declared before stomping out of the shuttle, "Put some pants on, big brother and step outside!"

Ron slid his legs down from the table and started to get up when a strong green hand gripped his arm.

"My child," said the former Avatar, "Rhi is acting strangely. I suspect that she is trying to push you to a desperate mental state so that you will reach deep inside yourself and restart the core essence of the MMP that is still attached to your very soul. Like the character Irving in _Bricks of Fury Five, The Final Brickening_."

"So, to honor her intentions, I have to beat the stuffing out of her?" Ron wondered out loud.

"Careful, you are nowhere close to being recharged with energy," the former Avatar warned.

Warluse threw a pair of sweatpants at Ron, "Whatever you do, hurry up, I want to move the shuttle back behind the bunkhouse so they can start heating the ovens for dinner, I missed lunch. (The catering team had assembled temporary brick pizza ovens, but were afraid that the exhaust from the shuttle's thrusters would collapse their carefully stacked refractory bricks. They wanted to wait for the shuttle to be moved back before lighting the fires.)"

'What the hell?', thought Ron when he stepped out of the shuttle. A breeze was swirling around the meadow, picking up fallen leaves. The sunshine was replaced with an unearthly blue light. A glowing Rhianna floated just off the ground. "It's OK! I've got this!" he shouted to Drakken and Shego who were running to the meadow.

Ron could feel the MMP solidly attached to his very being softly glowing like an ember under ashes. 'Let's light this candle,' he thought, feeling for the first time that he could be a real Mystical Monkey Master not with stolen or borrowed power, but with the power that was truly his.

Gently 'blowing' on the ember, it quickly became a flame. Unlike when the Avatar was buffering the MMP, Ron didn't need to work hard to 'pull the blue', the blue was ready and waiting. A blue corona surrounded him, he reached out and the breeze stopped and the sun shone brightly. Rhianna dropped to the ground and charged.

Ron met her charge with one of his own and the two met with an exchange of blows accompanied by blue flashes. Their contact didn't stop their charge and they went past each other.

Both turned to face each other and charged. Clashing a second time in a longer swirl of leaps, blocks, and strikes, they separated again for a moment.

Turning to face an upset Rhianna again, Ron thought, 'Man, what is her issue? Why am I getting my butt kicked here? Is my power level still that low? Damn it all, I know I'm hurting her, I'm not used to this direct power feed.'

Ron was setting himself for a third clash when he suddenly dove for Rhianna, catching her as her eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed. Setting her gently on the grass, he nearly dropped to his knees himself when a wave of exhaustion swept over him. The power was quicker to respond without an avatar in the middle, but there was still a limit. Apparently. a couple of hours rest wasn't enough to charge up that much.

Warluse, unhappy that these two idiots were in danger of delaying dinner, walked over and threw each over a shoulder with all the care he would use with sacks of potatoes.

"'Luse," called out Paksmonga, "Put Rhi on the table with 'Airlea and Ron on the other one, I've released 'Hong, so it's free. I'll tell the shuttle crew to move back to behind the bunkhouse so the cooks can start dinner."

* * *

Ron was hungrily munching on a slice of 'everything lover's' pizza and sipping an iced tea under the glare of Carlynn, Jessica, Antubi, and even Mrs. Dr. P had a less than friendly look for him. Rhianna was laying on a chaise lounge next to them holding an ice pack on a truly impressive shiner.

At the table next to them Paksairlea, both Commanders and the Blades were in conversation with the tiny woman sitting cross-legged on top of their table, sipping on a beer entirely out of proportion to her size and nibbling on a slice of pineapple pizza.

"I'm not useless!" Rhianna suddenly blurted out, looking out from under the ice pack.

"Who said that you were, dear?", asked Ann, glaring even harder at Ron.

"Hey!, it wasn't me," protested Ron, "She was kicking my butt out there, I just got in a lucky hit or something."

"I can't call the Lotus Blade! Not even with a full MMP charge." she wailed, replacing the ice pack. "And Ron can't charge me anymore," she added quietly.

"Could you pick it up when you had a full MMP charge?" Ann asked.

"No," came the miserable reply muffled by the ice pack.

"I reckon I kin call it because I'm Kim's half-sis," pointed out Joss.

"But I'm Ron's half-sister!" Rhianna complained under the ice.

"It only likes to tease Ron. Remember, it refuses to come straight to his hand," Carlynn said with a small smirk directed at Ron.

"Ron is it true, you can't imbue people with MMP any longer?" asked Jessica.

"Looks that way, but Leah says it will take a couple of weeks to make sure," Ron answered after a big sip of tea.

"OK, Miss Magical Monkey Mistress, come with me and let me remove those bruises," Paksmonga walked over and held out her hand, "I've already removed the ones you left on Mr. Stoppable."

"Ron, you sleazebag!" Carlynn exclaimed, "You let them heal you before your sister. Your sister who was hurt because you HIT HER!"

"She started it!," Ron teased, then as his sister was led off, added quietly, "The doc wanted to hold off on fixing her to remind her that actions have consequences. That and Leah wanted to let her energy levels settle and then check Rhi herself."

"How is Leah?" asked Jessica.

"Good," Ron answered, "I think she is going to be a full-fledged Mystical Monkey Master when everything settles down. She said that Rhi is still full on MMP energy even after her demonstration, but says the MMP energy she stores is 'different' somehow."

"So, are you going to let Rhi go with you to pick up Kim then?" asked Carlynn.

"No. Really Carlynn, I just found out that I have a second 'real' sister and you want me to risk her? I don't want Jess going either, she's been a big sister to me at school this semester. Putting her in danger would be a pretty shabby way of saying thanks."

"So what do you want to do, Ron?" asked Jessica, undecided whether to be relieved or annoyed at not going.

"If I had a week, I'd say me, Antubi, Leah, and Rufus. But Leah and I are recovering from the separation and trying to get a grip on the changes."

Leah wandered over sitting next to Ron and put a couple of slices of taco pizza in front of him. "Eat child, you need calories to restore your energy levels." Waiting for him to start chewing, she continued, "Here is what our small Fae friend has been telling us. Kim has stumbled into Asgard, the land of Odin, Thor, all those Norse gods."

"And you believed her?", asked an incredulous Carlynn.

Paksairlea reached over and pulled a short wire from behind Ron's ear. Holding it out, it expanded into a black bo staff with gold rings and decorative carvings along its length.

"This is Ruyi Jingu Bang, the magical 'Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod' of the immortal Sun Wukong. The woman that we were talking to was barely two feet tall and might be a leprechaun. You were in my mystical mediation forest," she looked directly at the skeptical young woman and continued, "I find myself willing to believe strange things at least long enough to verify them."

"Uh, Leah?" asked Jessica as the former Avatar shrank the staff back to toothpick size and handed it back to Ron, "how come you can control the staff?"

"Good question. Perhaps during the years of our close association, I have absorbed some of his essential Ronness?"

 _ **Acceptance Testing**_

"Good evening, Lord Loki," strong feminine hands wrapped around his chest and found their way inside his tunic to caress the god's abs.

"Good evening to you, Bjort," Loki replied, pushing away from the table where he had just finished his first meal in over a day. "How is my favorite Valkyrie?"

"Fine," she replied, "I saw you and thought I would see how you were doing after Eir had healed you after that cowardly attack. Was that an earthquake early this morning or is there a new Hammer of the Gods?" she smirked and her hands wandered lower. Looking around, she asked, "Where is Sigyn?"

"Back in her rooms, I sent a servant to take food and drink to her because she said that she didn't think her legs would carry her to the dining hall."

Bjort giggled, "Want to come to my chambers? I would love to be your anvil…"

 _ **Extraction Planning**_

Ron, showered and dressed at the crack of eleven AM, walked out of the kitchen and onto the back deck, sitting by Antubi. Antubi pushed a glass of juice and a basket of breakfast burritos toward his friend.

"That was an impressive food coma you ate yourself into last night. Nobody could wake you up." the ninja said.

"Why would anyone want to wake me up?" Ron asked, taking a drink of juice and selecting a burrito. It might be lukewarm but it was still spicy and cheesy.

"Leah woke up twice with nightmares. The kind where the light turns blue, you hear monkeys and things start to move. They tried to get you to help, but Jess ran in and calmed her down. After the second time, Jess slept next to her, said it would save her a trip."

Ron grimaced, "I've been there, maybe we need to make sure one of us is around her at night for a while. I figure that the Peacemaker has got to have a counselor or two.

In the yard, Rhianna and Carlynn were doing _Tai Sheng Pek Kwar_ Katas. Carlynn was doing OK for a beginning student, but Rhianna was pure grace, speed, and precision. They watched for a while and after Ron had eaten his fourth breakfast burrito, Antubi spoke up.

"Ron, I want to talk to Master Sensei about inviting Rhi to Yamanouchi to study and Leah to teach."

"Teach?"

"Absolutely. The people at Yamanouchi studying MMP are struggling with trying to decode old scrolls. Turns out the couple of Masters that knew the most were adamant that you not be taught it. Those people have passed on, their knowledge lost. But Leah was there. The things she knows must be amazing."

"But what if neither of us can imbue other people with MMP? Seems it's useless to study a dying art."

"Don't you want to learn to use the MMP you have like it was meant to be used, Ron? You've barely scratched the surface!"

"Well, I was figuring to go to college here, I mean what kind of career opportunities are there for mystical ninjas…" Ron started.

"Excuse me Mr. Stoppable, Mr. Noratu," Paksmonga walked up and pulled up a chair to sit down.

"I understand that your missing teammate needs an extraction if not a rescue," the Commander continued, "I can't justify sending Peacemaker resources against an unknown people on an unknown planet. We have first contact rules that have to be followed," he paused, a bit baffled by the lack of concern on either young man's face.

"That's fine, KP is my mate," Ron chuckled grimly, "I killed a Lowardian to protect her, how much more trouble can a comic book god be?"

"It's not like he'll be alone, I'll be there and if they really piss us off, we'll bring Carlynn to lecture them," pointed out the ninja with a smirk.

"I do have a problem that maybe you could help me with," Ron was not cooperating with his initial plan so Pakshok tried a different tack, "I have a lawyer that I need to get off planet for a day or two. She's 'Spoken Truth to Power' as I believe your saying goes. Unfortunately, 'Power' is well and truly annoyed and it is affecting the negotiations. I can't send her back to the ship because that would make it look like I have no faith in her and that is not true."

"So you want us to take her with us?" asked Ron, starting to catch on, "Might be kind of hard to watch out for her while extracting KP."

"The Blades Warlanse and Warluse have shore leave built up, they would be willing to provide protection for her. They have done this kind of operation before."

"Who commands the group?" Ron asked, looking for the catch.

"For the major objectives, you are in command, Mr. Stoppable," the Commander explained, "Contrary to what many of us think, a Blade's job is not to 'kill people and break things', but they can do it if they must. I recommend that you tell them what you want and listen to their suggestions. You don't have to do what they suggest, but only a foolish leader doesn't listen to experienced Blades. In combat, the Blades will act as they think best to achieve the results you want."

"OK, and what about the lawyer?" asked Ron.

Pakshok grimaced internally, this young human might be considered random, but random apparently sometimes included perceptive.

"Paksmason is smart, experienced and will have no problem telling you her recommendations. She is the kind of person that is not bashful about letting you know what she really thinks, which is why I am looking to send her off-planet for a few days."

"Why are you really giving me this support?" asked Ron, "Trying not to be suspicious here, but KP, Wade, Rufus and I have pretty much been on our own since we started."

"I have several reasons, but mainly I think that you people could be valuable friends of the Empire. I swear in the Emperor's name that any offers or requests for payback of debts will always be something that you can turn down without penalty," the Commander said, "Right now, you need to get checked out by your and my medical people to make sure that you are ready for tomorrow's mission."

"Ready or not, I will be going tomorrow."

Pakshok saw Ann and his medical officer come out of the kitchen carrying mugs of coffee. Coffee was another discovery that would add a little to his personnel's monetary rewards when they returned with seeds and plants even if he himself didn't care for it. Waving them over, he called out, "Dr. Possible, Commander 'Monga! Ron needs to be checked out to make sure he is ready for tomorrow." Grinning evilly, he turned Ron over to their tender mercies.

After getting a work over by both doctors including several injections that Ann wasn't happy about giving him, he was soon moving easily and pain-free.

Then the planning started. Warlanse and Warluse were patience incarnate in describing the small unit tactics that might come into play.

Then came the discussion of major objectives. The leprechaun had been able to describe the courtroom where Kim should be. Paksmason seemed older than the other Lowardians Ron had seen, but then Ron had never been that good at guessing a human woman's age. She walked with a stick, but Ron suspected that was for show and as an excuse to get a weapon into a courtroom. Since Paksmason was barely seven feet tall, the leprechaun guessed that she would be able to get into the spectator area as a guest of her "distant relative".

From her research into Norse Law and trials, she said they should expect thirty-six lightly armed fighters in the jury, a half-dozen gods at the main table who should be assumed to be heavy fighters and an unknown number of mostly unarmed spectators.

Ron was a bit worried about other fighters in the castle (henchmen, as he thought of them) being between them and getting Kim out. The lawyer laughed, saying, "Know your opponent, Mr. Stoppable. My research suggests even odds that my two large friends can bring an 'aggression suppression" system suitable to enable our exit without fighting."

"And if it doesn't?" asked Ron.

"Then, Mr. Stoppable, are you willing to 'break things and kill people' to save your beloved?"

"Yes," there was no hesitation in Ron's answer.

 _ **Villainy**_

Kim lay on the floor in a cell in the dungeon. Since Asgardians didn't believe in incarceration, but fast and final punishment, the dungeon wasn't more than a half dozen cells in an unused part of a basement used for storage.

Loki entered the cell and scowled at the woman. As Kim was in a drug-induced sleep, this cell didn't even have a door that locked.

"Well done Lady Kim," Loki sneered, "You have arranged things so I cannot force my lust on you. You have caused me shame by being unable to bed anyone except Sigyn. Bjort laughed at me!" He savagely kicked her in the side, feeling ribs crack. Kim hit the wall and rolled back over, totally unresponsive.

"That would have been more satisfying if I had heard you scream." Loki looked thoughtful, "You saw through my illusionary magic when I woke you from that dream and you called the Hammer even though I had spelled away your voice." Loki knelt down and roughly stripped the young woman looking for runic tattoos on her body. "Well, well, what do we have here?" he said, fingering the dwarven made bracelet. "This has the slime of dwarven magic all over it." He tried to break the bracelet, but it was far too strong. He couldn't untie it and couldn't get it over her hand.

Standing, he looked at his battered red-haired annoyance. Drawing his sword, he knelt down and pulled the arm wearing the bracelet over her head and held it against the floor.

"I think that Midgard has the expression 'an eye for an eye'. This will have to be close enough," he murmured. Raising the fiery sword up, he brought it down in a savage, steel shattering blow. Swearing, he threw the now useless hilt in the corner. Sliding the bracelet off her arm, he took it and her hand, placing them in a pouch.

"Goodbye Lady Kim," he said leaving the cell. "The Thing will declare you an outlaw, if you live I will hunt you down and kill you when you are able to see your fate!"

From the shadows of a corner in the cell, four shining black eyes watched as a pool of blood slowly grew on the floor of the cell.


	12. Trials

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable (and for this chapter, extensive editing on some parts of this story. Daccu also provided some of the dialog. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

Antubi Noratu appears also thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in "The Hunter: Book One"

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **Rescue Party**_

The setting sun failed to remove the blue light shining over the smoking rubble of the ruined city. Ron felt the rage start to slip away as the monkeys slowly ceased screaming.

So many bodies, so much blood. Standing by the shattered fountain in a plaza, the bodies of his foe lay strewn about like straw scattered by the wind.

KP? Where was his KP? Had he really been so caught up in vengeance that he had not taken the time to find her body? A pale hand gripped his shoulder.

"OK, Sport, time to wake up," Shego's pale face framed by dark hair swam into his vision. "Ron? Are you OK? Having a bad dream?" she looked concerned.

"I'm fine," Ron replied, getting up from his air mattress in the den. He thought she probably was concerned about a mental case like him going into a potentially dangerous sitch. The blond teen muttered under his breath, "I'm becoming a damned basket case by worrying about what those Viking clowns have done to KP. I have got to figure out a way to get a grip."

Shego had been walking away and heard 'something' being said and turned around and asked, "Did you say something Stoppable?"

"No, not really.", Ron forced a smile trying hard to believe that this dream was the product of not knowing what had happened to his KP and not some sort of whacked prophecy.

By the time Ron was showered and dressed, the dream was a fading memory.

After a light breakfast, Ron was putting water, snacks, and a few odds and ends into his mission pack when he heard approaching steps behind him.

"Mr. Stoppable. May I have a word with you?" The alien lawyer walked up with Jessica and Carlynn in tow. The two young women were dressed in dark gray body armor and carried backpacks.

"Uh, Sure," Ron knew that he wasn't going to like this. From experience, Lawyers never wanted to 'have a word with you' because they had _good news_. Seeing his 'sisters' in body armor increased his unease.

"Your colleagues have expressed their concerns that you might, as they put it, 'go full monkey' and leave behind a destroyed city along with an unnecessarily high body count. They believe that their presence will help mitigate against that danger."

"Didn't you ask me last night whether I was willing to 'break things and kill people'?"

"Yes, I did. But I am concerned that your initial plan should contain less breakage. Killing people and breaking things should be reserved as the plan of last resort."

Now aggravated, the teen inquired, "And how is putting my friends in danger going to help? There are too many unknowns as it is to make a coherent plan."

"Ron, please let me come. I have seen you gripped in nightmares caused by killing that one Lowardian. I am afraid that more killing will destroy you," pleaded Jessica.

Putting her two cents worth in, Carlynn declared, "Yori accused me of sitting back in comfort and judging the actions of people like you. I want to be there for real this time. Maybe I can help."

"And just what do you think you can do to help?" He asked, "Do you have any idea what it would do to me if either of you got hurt? _That_ could trigger me to go 'full monkey' and all bets would be off at that point." Ron really didn't want to have this discussion. Not now, when it was nearly time to leave.

"We can bring you back if you slip into the rage. No matter how loud the monkeys scream, no matter how angry you get, we know that you will not hurt us," declared Jessica.

"Not even me," added Carlynn with a small smile she got from knowing that she had pushed his buttons in the past and probably would push them again in the future.

"You sure about that? Ron retorted. He was torn, he didn't want two more people to keep track of, two more people to worry about, two more people to protect. Still, _the faded remnants of dream worried him._

"Sir. As I said before, no one shall hurt them while I live," Warlanse said, joining the conversation, "I can't guarantee their safety if they follow us into battle, but I will do my best."

"Ron, I want to trade you Drakken and Shego for Antubi," Nova wandered up with yet another complication for the overloaded 'Mission Commander'. "I have something I need to do and I really need Antubi and Rhi to help me."

Ron closed his eyes for a second trying to sort out the changes.

"OK, that's fine," he replied to Nova. Turning to the Blade team lead he simply said, "Will it complicate things having Jess and Carlynn with you guys for the courtroom mission, while I take Drakken and Shego for the search mission? Does this sound like a reasonable plan?"

"No, sir and yes, sir," was the reply.

Ron stared up at the tall Lowardian.

"No, Mad Dog," he corrected with a small smile, "Having them with us will not negatively affect our efforts and yes, the plan sounds reasonable enough to accomplish the mission."

"OK, well, let's get loaded up," Ron said. He wished he had a cooler handle than 'Mad Dog', but it was better than being called 'Sir' or 'Monkey Boy' or 'caveman'… or even 'sidekick' or 'buffoon'.

"Jessica?" a young man intercepted Jessica and Carlynn on their way to the assault shuttle.

"Oh, Hi. You're Jim, right?" Jessica recalled the twins from their stint as 'Pep Puppies' on the cheer squad.

"Good guess," replied Jim.

"Not a guess, you're wearing red. It's nice to see you, but we really need to load up," said his former teammate.

"You need to take these," he said, holding out a pair of green metal cylinders. They had circular rings around the diameter, making them look like an eight-inch section of a spindle used in decorative railing.

Carlynn reached out and took one, saying, "This is a koga, right? I've seen them in self-defense classes."

Jim turned over the remaining one in his hand. Showing a small switch recessed in the side near the end, he said, "Flip this switch and it will charge up and then discharge a bolt of electricity when you hit something. We think we fixed it so you can't electrocute yourself. You really shouldn't test that feature." He handed his to Jessica. "I heard you weren't carrying weapons and thought that they might come in handy."

Both girls gave him a quick hug, said thanks and raced to catch up to the others boarding the shuttle.

"I wonder if they need tutoring in physics," he grinned to himself, warmed by the hugs, even through their body armor.

Once airborne, Ron asked Shego what was going on with Nova and the others, Shego simply replied, "Later Sport, now what's the plan for springing the princess?"

Ron explained the general idea that the three of them would slip in and hunt for Kim while the rest mixed in with the Light Elven representatives and attended the trial. As much as he liked and respected Antubi's skills, Ron was perfectly happy to have the pair of former supervillains backing him up, especially Shego, whose moves he was familiar with from their years of crossing paths.

The assault shuttle landed on the grassy area by the shore of the lake. Within two minutes, they were unloaded and the shuttle was gone.

Within another two minutes, they and their gear were reasonably hidden in the shrubberies and trees, including the two "Aggression Suppression" systems, black cylindrical objects about six-feet long and over two-feet wide that the Blades had insisted on bringing.

Ron and Shego walked onto the grassy area where Kim's Kimmunicator said that she stopped for a couple of hours a few days ago. The recorded GPS track showed her path starting and stopping at a spot out on the lake. In fact, Ron guessed that it was the spot where a small sail just appeared on the water.

 _ **Sailing to Asgard**_

The sail grew closer and they saw it was an oversized surfboard with a single sail. Its rider was a tall woman, not human although Ron would have been pressed hard to say exactly what about her appearance told him that. She was tall, slender yet muscular in build, (with nice curves, although he would never have said that out loud). She had alabaster skin and long hair in a ponytail that was nearly a white blonde in color.

Ron wasn't a sailor, but from what little windsurfing he had done, he knew that you usually had to tack back and forth to go in the direction you wanted, and this woman was sailing straight toward them with the prevailing wind blowing directly at her.

She soon reached the beach next to their little meadow and the large wheels on the surfboard allowed her to sail directly up to where they were standing. The sail went slack when she released the mast and dismounted.

"Greetings Ron Stoppable, I am so glad you could make it. My name is Inkeri, I am a friend of your mate Kim Possible. Please introduce me to your companions."

At the approach of their contact, the rest of the team had come forward. Introductions were made and Inkeri had quickly laid out the 'sitch'.

"Kim Possible has taken up the Hammer of Thor. She is transformed into a mighty warrior when it touches her hand."

"Whoa, KP is the Goddess of Lightning?" Ron was impressed.

"No, the Hammer, its name is Mjöllnir, provides her with strength and is a powerful weapon for smashing and breaking things, but Thor is still the God of Lightning. But focus please, time is short," the elf continued, "She was becoming more and more unhappy in Asgard and decided that she had been away from her beloved for too long."

"Her beloved?" asked Ron.

"Yes, you, Ron Stoppable," the tall elf frowned then continued, "Thor and Loki were rumored to have offered to make her a goddess if she would stay. She met alone with Loki, then something happened that caused Kim Possible to rip off Loki's genitals…"

"Holy crap," muttered Ron.

"You go, girl! Carlynn quietly cheered, "That male bastard did something to deserve it…"

"She visited me and my partner Dwarves to have an artificial replacement made. Soon after she got back to Asgard, Thor was spotted carrying her unconscious body to the dungeons. Now her trial on assault charges at a court called a 'Thing' is scheduled to start soon. With the time slippage between worlds, it is hard to say when, but if we leave in the next three or four hours, we will be there before it starts."

Inkeri passed out small squares of what looked like quilts for small dolls. After showing how to expand and collapse the pocket boats, she said. "I would like to leave soon. I worry about the portal between our worlds being discovered and destroyed. You should be aware that we will have to cross a lake with water that has a very high concentration of salt and iron. I have bags to put delicate things into."

The Lowardian's gear was designed for hostile environments, at worse some things would need a freshwater rinse which Inkeri said would be readily available. A five-minute training session on how to start, stop and steer the little boats plus another five minutes of applying duct tape to Drakken's uniform, already water and chemical resistant, to prevent saltwater from getting in and damaging his leaves should he fall in and they were on their way.

Since they each had their own boat and people were getting used to them, Ron actually had a few minutes to think. Having a magical wind that was always at your back greatly simplified handling the little boats.

Ron almost had an idea on how to rein in the Mystical Monkey Madness when they arrived at the portal. It took several minutes of wrangling their boats through the vegetation around the cave entrance, then they were across the beach inside the cave and sailing across the underground salt lake.

Ron relaxed into the surreal peace and quiet of the underground lake. Inkeri had created small orbs of light at the tops of their masts. Their light was reflected by crystals of minerals in the ceiling making it appear that they were cruising through a cosmos of stars. Then the solution to Ron's problem finally bubbled to the top of Ron's consciousness.

Zorpox. Ron remembered more than he told people he did. The joy of effortlessly sliding through the water as a mutant beaver, the feeling of Incredible Hulk-like power from the combination of mutagen and too much Bueno Nacho, the feeling of superiority, confidence, and evil that he felt as Zorpox. He had claimed not to remember any of these because people would want to talk about his experiences, his feelings, blah, blah, blah.

Zorpox's power didn't come from Drakken's evil, the evil just gave him something to focus on. Zorpox was really Ron with all the governors turned off, all the fuses replaced with pennies, and the volume turned to eleven. Zorpox was quicker to react, but not smarter, apparently, Drakken's technical genius was transferred to him along with the evil. When it came to the people around him, Zorpox didn't care what happened to them as long as it didn't get in his way. No insane rage because someone he loved got hurt, no self-doubt because some action might put someone in danger. Zorpox was approaching the border of psychopathy, but he was mostly on the 'good' side of the border. Now all he had to do was figure out how to 'pull the Z' like he learned to 'pull the blue'. And figure it out fast, there was a bump as his little pocket boat rolled up on a beach in front of a large corridor lit by thousands of shimmering jewels in the walls and ceiling.

* * *

"Ron Stoppable! Good to meet you at last!" Ron found himself engulfed in a hug by a huge, heavily muscled dwarf who apparently had been taught by Kim on the use of hugs in greetings and farewells. Soon introductions were made while the humans in the entire team were nearly crushed by hugs from the formidable smiths.

"You didn't bring Hana!" Brokk was clearly disappointed.

"Uh, This is a rescue mission, we couldn't put her in danger," explained Jessica, glaring at Ron to stop him from pointing out that his 'other' sisters came and were now in danger.

"We would have watched her and played with her until you got back with Kim Possible…" pointed out Sindri.

"And we wanted to teach her how to dance like a dwarf," added Brokk.

"We really didn't have time to go and get her. Maybe next time. How do you know about Hana?" asked Ron, trying to imagine these miniature mountains dancing.

"Kim Possible showed us pictures of you, her, and Hana playing Skeeball and dancing," Brokk explained. "Kim Possible is very proud of having you as a mate, you know."

Ron rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm very privileged that she thinks so. What can you tell us about how she is doing and where she is being held?"

"I believe she is being kept unconscious, otherwise, her Hammer would be battering apart the castle to set her free," Brokk said, "The last time she spoke to us, she said that she was going to say her goodbyes and return to Midgard. Sindri told her that maybe she should leave from here because there would be some who would be unhappy with what she had done to Loki, but she said 'Let them tell me that to my face.' I think she didn't want trouble following her home to the people she loved."

'Dammit,' thought Ron, 'I don't care if the very hounds of hell were snapping at her heels, she should have come running straight to me. I would have helped her!'

Sindri walked over and started unrolling scrolls on a table. "Here are maps showing the layout of the castle. It doesn't really have a dungeon as such, but I figured that Kim Possible will be kept in one of these three areas…"

The team studied the charts and discussed general strategies. The team was surprised to find that their coming into Asgard was expected. Heimdallr had seen them preparing and he told Inkeri that they would have no problems getting in. After they had a good idea of where they would be going and had taken pictures of the diagrams, Brokk laid out a late lunch for them. Dwarven vegetable chili with bread. With a bowl containing slices of a golden fruit that they were instructed to eat first, "to prevent any intestinal distress…".

Ron pulled Diablo sauce from his pack. He had packed enough for everyone because, "well, you never know, you know?" The Diablo sauce in the chili was well received to the point where Ron was starting to ponder on what other foods he could introduce. The time left before they needed to leave was taken up by Brokk and Sindri taking Jesica and Carlynn off to the side to help them with their equipment while Ron slipped off to a quiet corner and tried meditating with the goal of 'pulling his inner Zorpox' to the surface.

* * *

"You need to look more like traveling warriors," said Brokk, producing cloaks to match their armor. Sindri, with a minimum of hammering and sparks, produced a pair of weapon belts complete with holsters for their 'Thunderbolt Kogas'.

"Remember, presentation is a large part of any fight," Brokk told them, "Now you look like young, but fierce acolytes of some fighting order, don't you agree, Sindri?"

Sindri studied the pair and declared, "I agree. Jessica's constant smile pairs well with Carlynn's propensity to glare at the men around her."

Carlynn started to demonstrate that glare when she noticed Sindri's teasing smile. Bowing gracefully while sweeping out her cloak, she said, "You know me too well, Master Dwarf."

"We have time to upgrade your weapons if you wish," offered Sindri.

Jessica looked at Carlynn and shrugged, "That would be OK, I guess."

Sindri and Brokk took two hairs from each girl and to their horror, carried their high tech 'Thunderbolt Kogas' over to their forge, heated them to glowing and then hammered on them creating a shower of sparks. After quenching them in meteor oil and wiping them off, Brokk handed them back.

Snatching their weapons, they were astonished to find them a little heavier, unblemished, and unchanged except for an extra push button on the side near the front.

"Put them in your holster," Brokk instructed, "now hold out your hand and think 'I need my weapon'."

The pair did as instructed and soon were delighted to discover that they could make the sticks fly to their hand. "What does the new button do?" asked Jessica.

Sindri had them walk about ten feet from his anvil. "Charge your weapons," he told them and once the rising pitch told him that they were fully charged, he said, "Point them at the anvil and press the button."

Nothing happened. He told them to take one step closer and try again. This time there was a flash and a crack as two bolts of lightning reached out to the anvil. Once they blinked the spots out of their vision, they looked and saw two glowing spots on the anvil.

"Sometimes it is best not to get close to an enemy," Brokk told them, "They will still generate a shock when you hit something."

Delighted, they gave the two smiths hugs and spent the rest of the time before they left standing in front of a mirror practicing dramatically uncovering their holsters from their cloaks and then drawing their weapons. And giggling a little at what geeks they had become.

* * *

Inkeri politely interrupted, "Ron Stoppable, it is time to leave for Asgard."

"You can just call me Ron if you like," he told her.

"Oh, I was afraid that leaving off a part of your name would be an insult," she explained, "Was your meditation fruitful?"

"Maybe. I can almost reach the mental state that I need," Ron explained, "Might be easier in a different setting. Maybe I need an emotional trigger…"

Brokk and Sindri explained their fatal weakness to sunlight but said that if there was anything they could do in the dark to let them know. They also promised to keep in touch with Ron to see about trading for a supply of Diablo sauce and bade them luck in their endeavors.

Inkeri insisted they could really just walk in, that Heimdallr would let them past. So, they 'sailed' their pocket boats up the Bifrost. They saw Heimdallr as they walked past, he was in deep conversation with several people so they just collapsed, pocketed their boats, and walked in. Even towing their two six-foot long containers didn't generate any interest from onlookers. Ron swore that the pale guardian looked him in the eye and nodded as they walked past.

Once past the gates, they split up with Ron, Shego, and Drakken heading down the stairs to start their search and the rest going with the Light Elves to the Thing. Once at the courtroom, Paksmason told the Emperor's Blades in an imperious voice to "Wait for me here, don't wander off." then she along with Inkeri and Ron's 'sisters' went it to find seats in the back out of sight. Warhong struck up a conversation with the door guards while her companions went down the hall a little ways looking for an out of the way place to stash their two 'aggression suppression' packages. Coming back, they joined Warhong and the two door guards in a discussion of castle gossip in general and Lady Kim gossip specifically.

 _ **The Thing**_

Odin stood up from his seat at the head of the long table. Holding his spear, Gungnir, he tapped its butt three times against the floor, calling the Thing to order. The long table had the attending Asgardian gods and goddesses starting with Freya sitting on the side nearest the walls facing the room. People from Asgard and a couple of the other realms who had come to watch, sat around smaller tables scattered around the room. Six rows of six chairs made a square off to the side, these were reserved for the jury, all warriors selected from Freya's troops.

"Thor, as his right as a god of Asgard has called this Thing to judge the actions of Kim Possible of Midgard against the god Loki of Asgard," announced Odin. Looking around, he asked, "Where is the accused?"

Thor spoke, "My Lord Odin, she is in the dungeons held in a trance to prevent her from calling Mjöllnir and doing further violence."

'We have thirty-six of our finest warriors here and they cannot protect us?', the over god thought with amusement in his all-seeing eye, 'If word gets out about our weakness we may end up invaded by dwarves if they can stop laughing long enough. Still, my beloved Freya says to go along with my sons…'

"Where is her accuser?" asked Odin.

"Here, my Father," Loki spoke as he came into the room.

"We will start with your explanation of her crimes," declared Odin who had already been briefed on what really happened by Freya.

Loki stood in front of the jury, all warriors that he had personally picked, "Thor and I saw potential in Lady Kim and decided to offer to nominate her to have Odin make her a goddess. Inconceivably, she was hesitant to accept the offer immediately. We asked her to think about it and give us an answer the next morning."

"Is that correct, Thor?" asked Odin.

"Yes, it is correct, Allfather," confirmed Thor.

Loki then continued smiling inwardly at his brother's confirmation, "Then I met with her, alone, the next morning. Thor was delayed on other business. She again seemed hesitant to accept the honor we offered her. To persuade her, I offered to look into bringing her mate here to Asgard and provide him with immortality so they could be together forever. She seemed to approve of that idea.

I then decided to gift her with my attention to seal the agreement. I silenced her with a small spell to prevent her idle chatter from ruining the moment. She was starting to caress my manhood when suddenly she used Mjöllnir to viciously attack me and literally ripped off my manhood. The assault left me unconscious. Apparently, she realized the mistake she made and took Sigyn to see the dwarves to have an artificial replacement made. Thor heard of her assault on my person, took Lady Kim into custody, then petitioned Odin for this trial."

Loki sat down, the warriors on the jury seemed outraged by Kim's betrayal as did Odin and Thor. Freya, Sif, and Sigyn simply looked disgusted.

Odin tapped his spear on the floor for attention.

"Thor, does that match the evidence that you have seen?" he asked.

The god of thunder replied, "Yes, my Lord Odin. In fact, witnesses that saw her immediately after, said that she did not look remorseful or sorrowful, but had a visage of grim determination."

Odin tapped his spear again on the floor for attention.

"Is there anyone to speak for the accused?" he asked.

To Odin's obvious surprise, Heimdallr got up and walked to the front of the room.

"Part of the reason we wanted Kim Possible to accept a place among us was that she represents new ways of looking at the realms; ideas such as her claim that even the thralls and the enemy have value. Her insistence that we look at a situation from the others' point of view has proven to have a certain merit. Knowing this, I have observed the paths of probability, seeking to determine our ultimate fate. Her actions have removed the possibility of a disaffected son of Loki's leading the assault upon our realm, but I fear that this only means that we will survive long enough to face another doom."

"And what doom would that be?" Freya asked.

"Overthrow by those of Midgard," Heimdallr answered, with no doubt in his voice.

"How can this be?" Thor chuckled, skeptical that those beings under him were capable of such a feat. "They are far beneath us! We protect them and those of them with any honor revere us!"

"That was true a millennium in the past," the all-seeing answered. "But I _listen_ and I _watch_! I know that Lady Kim's attitude is far from unique among her kind, and it is our own doing that has created this! Their technology is not the match of ours, but it is dynamic and growing! Ours has stagnated over the ages to the point that those of Midgard are rapidly closing the gap! They no longer need us for most crises that they face, yet when we encounter them we help ourselves to their treasures, their possessions and their very bodies! Our own actions fuel an inexorable shift in attitude, from seeing us as saviors and guardians to seeing us as despots and oppressors. Thor, my old friend, why do you think that Mjöllnir has refused you? It is not a _lack_ of valor or bravery on your part, but a lack of _justice_ brought on by a lack of _humility_!"

"So how can this result in our doom?" The Thunder God seemed much less defiant as he thought for a moment about his life on Midgard and his interaction with that realm's inhabitants.

"You saw what Lady Kim did when Loki chose to force his attentions upon her," Heimdallr answered. "She struck back; she fought for her right to choose for herself who she would lie with, who she would pleasure."

"She has _no such right_ _ **!**_ " Thor retorted. "She is only a woman of Midgard, Loki is of _Asgard_."

"ONLY a woman? Since we do not respect that right, she defends it for _herself_!" the watchman snapped in reply. "What happens when we of Asgard refuse to listen to their grievances? With no representation via a Thing, or even something so simple as us listening… they have no choice. Their grievances inevitably follow the path to first, defiance, then open rage, revolt, and uprising. If _we_ do not respect them, they will _earn_ their respect through _force_." He paused, noting that all were listening to him. And all looked thoughtful.

"Certainly, Lady Kim, armed with Mjöllnir, is much more capable than any from her world that we know about," he continued. "Yet what happens when an entire city, a nation, a world or even a realm finds itself oppressed by those who will not listen to a grievance? The answer is simple: They defend their free will with _force_! If we continue as we have, those of Midgard, denied any other outlet for their rage, will rise up _against_ us! And make no mistake, they will eventually throw us down."

Heimdallr scanned the assembly, looked each in the eye and sat down.

Before Odin could say anything, a woman's voice rang out from a table in the back, "Does not the accused get to speak? Or does Lady Kim being from Midgard mean that the rules of the Thing do not apply to her?"

Sharply cutting in, Loki objected, "Kim is too dangerous to be allowed into the Thing!" A now openly scornful Loki said, "Besides, those rules only apply to men from Asgard."

"I would like to see this girl. Surely Odin, Thor, Loki and three dozen of the mightiest warriors in all the realms can prevent a _mere woman_ from hurting anyone." There was a general murmur of agreement among the peoples from the other realms at the tables plus the jurors talking among themselves. The voice continued, "I understand that Mjöllnir can only be used for Justice. If that is true, then who of us has anything to fear? Certainly, Lord Loki has little left to lose."

At the last comment, the hall broke out into laughter. Odin thumped his spear on the ground to regain order.

"Who addresses this Thing? Stand and be recognized!" called Odin.

A woman stood with the assistance of a cane at the back, near one of the Alfheim tables. She was very tall with amber eyes, black hair streaked with gray and pale green skin.

"I am Paksmason, here as a guest of Alfheim. To be honest, I am here as Kim Possible's lawyer, her legal advocate if you will."

"There is no requirement in our Law to allow a foreign person to speak for the accused!" cried Loki outraged at this apparent intrusion to upset his plans, "Guards, throw this woman out!"

The woman put two fingers in her mouth and blew a piercing whistle. There was a small commotion at the back door. The back door opened and three fighters stepped in, two were as tall as the woman, the other shorter, but still taller than Thor or Loki. They were covered in black armor and wore black helmets that totally covered their head and faces.

A young woman's voice rang out from the back, "Surely the gods of Asgard are not afraid to hear the words of a woman!?"

Kim's unexpected lawyer fought down a grin. She had spoken in courts of all sizes and kinds, but this was the first time she had fighters to back her up. Not to mention her own personal rabble-rouser. 'Always respect the local court, my green butt,' she thought.

"My Lord Odin," the lawyer said respectfully, "if it would please the members of this Thing, please have Lady Kim brought before this assembly for judgment."

Paksmason saw Odin speak quietly to the people seated close to him at the main table. Two women got up and left using the side door.

Jessica typed a message to Ron's Kimmunicator for him to come up to the courtroom because Kim was being brought in to testify.

As the Lowardian lawyer was still standing, all eyes moved back to her. As no one asked her to be seated, she decided to continue.

"We have heard Lord Loki's account. While we are waiting for the Lady Kim to be brought up, is there anyone else who saw what happened and can give us their account?" she asked.

"Do you accuse me of untruth?" growled Loki.

"Not at all, Lord Loki," was her rejoinder, "Just that sometimes people see different things and putting together multiple truths can create a larger, more complete truth."

"I saw it," Heimdallr stood up.

"Were you there?" asked the lawyer.

"No, I was at the Bifrost, at my post. I have the gift of far sight and far hearing. It is my job to watch the realms looking for trouble."

The lawyer grinned inwardly knowing this could make her case, "What did you see and hear?"

"I heard Loki tell Lady Kim that he expected some extra consideration for considering extending the godhood offer to her mate and that they could have a calmer discussion without her calling Mjöllnir. I saw Lady Kim get up as if to flee then Loki slapped her to the ground. She got up on her knees and grasped his manhood…" the pale god recounted.

"Wait. Wait. Did Kim reach into his clothes and pull out his manhood?" asked Kim's defender.

"No, Loki had pulled it out after he slapped Kim to the ground. He expected her to pleasure him," the Watcher replied.

"And what did Kim say during all this?"

"Nothing. Lady Kim was silent."

"Really? No screams, nothing?"

"No. Before she was slapped to the ground, I saw her lips move, but there was no sound."

"I seem to recall that Lord Loki said that he 'silenced her with a small spell'. Might he have done that to prevent her from calling for Mjöllnir or for assistance?" The Lawyer was startled that she didn't hear anyone call out "Objection, your honor!".

"It could have been to prevent her from calling the Hammer or for assistance," admitted the pale god.

Continuing, she pressed, "She never called the Hammer because she couldn't. Did she make a hand motion to call it?"

"No. But, I was surprised when the Hammer appeared."

"If Lady Kim never called her Hammer or directed it where to hit, then can you really say that Lady Kim attacked Lord Loki?"

"My Lady, it was her weapon that removed Loki's manhood."

"What is the Hammer known for?"

"It is Mjöllnir, the Hammer of Justice, my lady."

"Thank you very much for your words, Lord Heimdallr. Is there anything else you wish to add?"

"No," he replied and the pale Watcher took his seat.

The lawyer had done a quick study of Asgardian law but knew that this proceeding was heavily personality based, not rule-based. Even though she was experienced in speaking in courts, this was the first time she expected to leave a courtroom under battle conditions and she felt greatly comforted by the three Emperor's Blades at her back. A pity really, with Heimdallr's testimony, she was certain that in a normal court she could get all the charges against Kim dropped. Even with a jury that was picked by Loki,

'By the Emperor,' she thought, "I'd give a lot to match wits with Loki in a cross-examination."

The two women who had left to get Kim ran back into the room, going to Odin and Freya and began whispering to them, clearly upset. Two large ravens flew in behind them, dropping two objects on the table and appeared to join the conversation. It was clear to everyone in the room that something bad had happened to Lady Kim.

"Lord Odin," the Lawyer spoke after a minute of watching the discussion at the main table, "is there a problem with Lady Kim Possible?"

Unnoticed by practically everyone except the Lawyer, her team, Odin, and Heimdallr, three people from Midgard had followed the women when they came in the side door. They were all dressed in simple black uniforms. In the lead was a young blond man carrying a black staff that looked familiar to Odin. Once inside, he stepped out of the doorway and stood at attention at the end of the great table, his eyes flashing a brilliant, menacing blue as they scanned the room, seeming to pause as if to mark potential targets and threats.

His associates stood behind him, giving the impression of bodyguards. One was a man with light blue skin and carried vines on his back. The other was a pale raven-haired woman with a smirk on her face, faint green flames dancing on her hands.

Ron, Shego, and Drakken had arrived and were expecting Kim to be present.

"Oh God," the Lawyer heard the young woman named Jessica whisper to the other one, "Ron doesn't know Kim was assaulted! All hell is going to break loose here when he finds out."

"How can you tell?" she bent down and asked quietly.

"We don't hear any screaming monkeys," replied the one named Carlynn, "We'll be lucky if he only kills that Loki guy."

Paksmason stood up straight. Assuming that she survived these proceedings, she would have a story to tell that no one in the Peacemaker's Legal Section would _ever_ be able to top. And just maybe she would have helped save a world even if it was a wrong-sick Viking one.

Heimdallr had a moment of clarity. He had been happy to find that he could not see Lady Kim's future because that should stop the gods of Asgard from being so fatalistic with regards to prophecy, and actually pay attention and try to shape their future. He had heard Freya's vision that Asgard's future depended on Kim not being injured or killed by the hand of someone from Asgard. He had been watching her mate for signs of a threat to Asgard, yet he had done nothing to protect the young woman who was the real trigger for that threat. He kicked himself for not moving her to safety when she lay helpless in her cell like a loaf of bread on a shelf. As penance, he had let her mate and his companions enter Asgard unremarked. Now doom stood over them, balanced as if on the edge of a knife. The All-Seeing god shuddered for a moment as their demise flashed through his mind.

The room was in a near uproar. All had heard the prophecies of doom should something bad happen to Lady Kim. The word quickly spread through the room that the young Midgardian blond that just arrived was Lady Kim's Mate and many were speculating on what might have happened to her. But any who could see Loki's pale face knew _who_ had happened to the young woman. Those who had insight knew that the end of Asgard _could be at hand_ if the woman was unable to stand before the assembly due to her being killed _or_ injured.

Down at the end of the table, Ron stood frozen, staring at the objects the ravens had dropped on the table.

Shego was surprised that she wasn't hearing monkeys but couldn't take time to check on Ron because the three dozen men sitting in the jury area were scrambling to their feet and drawing swords. Moving in front of Ron, she held up fiery hands and shouted, "Everybody back off. We've got Ragnarok on a stick here! Don't push your luck!"

Loki tried to snatch Gungnir but was stopped by the firm grasp of Odin on his wrist. "No violence will be allowed at this Thing," the Asgardian Father of All loudly declared to the room.

"Holmgang! Mr. Stoppable, call for Holmgang! It's a duel! Challenge Loki to a Holmgang!" The lawyer had run to the front of the room and was urgently whispering to the frozen Monkey Master. She desperately wanted to avoid a firefight in the courtroom and also wanted a pause to give Ron a chance to gather rationality instead of erupting in pure rage.

"I challenge Loki to Holmgang!" said Ron clearly, leaving the lawyer behind as he walked behind the table to where the two ravens were standing.

By that time, Jessica and Carlynn had caught up to Paksmason followed by the Blades covering their back.

Ron reached down and picked up a friendship bracelet identical to the one he wore.

He twirled the bracelet around his finger. "I can't take _my_ bracelet off. It won't go over my **hand.** I wonder how Kim got hers off." One of the ravens looked at Ron and gave a series of squawks. Ron looked at the raven and replied with some clicks and short squawks of his own. Looking up at Loki, he continued, "But it appears that someone figured out how to _assist_ KP in taking _hers_ off. By cutting off her hand. The sound of angry, screaming monkeys filled the room. The raven squawked again, with Ron listening intently and then turning pale. The monkeys suddenly became silent. Again, Ron looked up at Loki and said in a strangely calm voice, "that's after you kicked her across the room and tore her clothes off."

What Shego heard next made her blood run cold, a voice, heard long ago that still gave her nightmares. Ron reached between the two ravens and picked up a blackened, burnt chunk of _something_.

Turning back to face the room, he held it up and addressed the Thing in a quiet, strained, slightly higher pitched than normal voice, "The captivate is the largest bone in the human hand." Tossing the bone up and catching it, he laughed in a strained voice, "HA-HA-HA, knowing that got me fifteen bonus points on the last lab quiz. HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! After he cut off her hand, he burned it."

Ron turned to his team. Grinning insanely, he said, "Jess, negotiate this Holmgang thing. I have vermin to exterminate."

"AH-BOO-YA! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!"

Jessica and Carlynn waited for the sound of screaming, angry monkeys to start back up. It never did which unsettled them. Ron was not himself, but if he wasn't in the grip of the MMP, what madness had he surrendered himself to?


	13. Justice

**_Author's Note_**

 ** _My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)_**

 ** _All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kala the Mangani was the brainchild of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati._**

 _ **Holmgang**_

Odin, Thor, Paksmason, and Jessica quickly conferred on the rules. The Holmgang had some pretty standard rules with only a few that varied from place to place. Everyone in the Thing moved to the dueling ring. Because, _of course_ , the beings that _created_ Norse traditions would _have_ one close to the courtroom.

Loki walked with Sigyn with a smirk on his face. Jessica compared that to Ron, who was talking to himself as he walked, "Ronald, you idiot, you didn't even try out some of the things this MMP mojo can do… Yes, yes, I know it looks dangerous, but hey, it's like using dynamite as a doorstop, one way or another, the door will NOT close on you. HA-HA-HA-HA-HA."

Jessica knew that Ron was proud of not being normal, but the way he was talking to himself was worrying her. Especially when he laughed at his own comments.

"OK, OK, don't get your boxers in a twist, Monkey Boy. I agreed to the objective after all. Yes, of course I remember it, but I have a question. If you crush them, then how do you drive them before you? I mean if they can move, then you did a piss poor job of crushing them, right? And if they don't have women, do we still crush them? It seems to me like lamentation is just like whining and who wants to hear whiny women?…"

The ring for the duel was just like the description in the BHS notes Jessica had studied. At the time, studying ancient Norse rites of dueling to settle disputes seemed silly. And yet, here she was. Kim's lawyer had passed negotiation lead of the duel to her, claiming that she knew the background of a Holmgang better and knew Ron better. Jessica now had her doubts about the latter.

"Hey, are you here with me?" Jessica, quietly asked Ron, putting her hand on his trim beard.

"Yes," frighteningly cold blue eyes looked into her softer, warm blue eyes. He stripped off his jacket and shirt, "Hold these for me, please."

"OK," she took the garments and quietly continued, "Now, don't let him step off the mat and don't let his blood drip on the ground until you are finished with him. The leather mat is small, so be really careful with leaping around because if you land off the mat with both feet or you let your blood drip on the ground you lose. Got all that?"

Ron nodded, an unnatural, wicked grin on his face as if he knew how this fight was going to play out.

Slipping under the ropes, she paced off the area. There was a leather-like square about nine-feet by nine-feet in size in the center with three one-foot wide zones ringing that square. Testing the center square, it seemed to be firm with no treacherous soft spots. Still, she figured that Ron would have a hard time keeping the fight constrained to such a small area. He hadn't said, but the look in his eyes told her that this was not going to be a contest where both men walked away.

Walking to the ropes, she drew herself to her full height and spoke loudly, "This Holmgang is to resolve the dispute between Lord Loki and Mystical Monkey Master Ronald Stoppable." She looked to Carlynn who snapped her fingers in front of Ron's face to get his attention. Seeing that Ron was indeed, listening to her, she continued.

"The dispute concerns the physical loss suffered by Lord Loki at the hands of Master Stoppable's Mate. Master Stoppable claims that his Mate's actions were a justified form of self-defense and that Lord Loki's actions have caused Master Stoppable loss of consortium. If Ron wins, Lord Loki or his survivors agree to pay a weregild of two-thousand ounces of gold as compensation. Should Lord Loki win, then Lady Kim Possible will be declared outlaw and banned from Asgard never to return on the pain of death."

Backing up to the center square, she tapped it with her foot, "The combatant who steps off the center square with both feet loses. The combatant whose blood first touches the ground loses. There will be no shield-seconds in this match and the combat will be a brawl. Odin will signal the start of the combat. Are there any questions?"

"No," said Ron, a disturbingly goofy grin on his face.

"Let's get this farce over with," sneered Loki as he contemplated how he was going to take the insignificant life of this scrawny buffoon. His plan was to quickly lose the duel without getting hurt then kill the boy when he had dropped his guard.

The two contestants each stood in an opposing corner of the center square.

Ron closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them the blue glow from them spread over his body and around the edge of the center square. If you looked very closely, you could see that the two opponents were inside a faint blue box that followed the edge of the combat square and rose up about fifteen feet high. Ron seemed to almost float above the mat with a savage grin on his face, his hands held in a defensive stance. "Ah Booyah indeed," he murmured, playing with a short piece of wire in his right hand.

"Begin!" commanded Odin.

Loki grinned and took a step back. Or he tried to, his foot struck a wall behind him and he was unable to step off the mat. His grin faltered, but came back as he nicked his arm with his sword. His grin nearly disappeared when he saw a single drop of blood seep from the wound and float up out of the top of the box.

Loki's grin vanished completely when Zorpox started to laugh. And it was Zorpox, not Ron because Ron was betting that a Zorpox lacking Drakken's evil could kill Loki and then stop without burning Asgard to a wasteland.

" _AH-BOO-YA-HA-HA-HA!_ Nope, sorry, you don't get out of the duel _that_ easy! Oh, and blood on the ground just doesn't work for us," Zorpox parried a sword thrust with a three-foot long black iron staff, then broke off a large chunk of his opponent's shield with an immediate riposte. "I'm thinking body parts on the ground work _much_ better!"

A spinning kick following his next parry bounced the god against a nearly invisible wall of faint blue. Loki jumped back up to his feet barely dodging a thrust of the black staff to his face. Then he made a fatal mistake. Instead of relying on the strength and speed inherited from his giant father, he decided killing the boy with deceit and trickery would be more enjoyable. The trickster's body shimmered and _Kim_ appeared.

"Ron, Look out! He's behind you!" cried the young woman Ron had known most of his life and trusted completely. Zorpox on the other hand remembered her as an adversary and didn't turn around.

The Dwarven-made friendship bracelet grew painfully hot on Zorpox's wrist and she grew transparent revealing Loki thrusting a sword at his heart. Zorpox hesitated the merest fraction of a moment and that hesitation was nearly fatal as the parry wasn't in time to prevent a slash across his ribs. Blood ran up his side with droplets rising in the air to vanish at the top of the nearly invisible box.

"Kim's mate is wounded, the duel is _over!_ " cried Sigyn.

"There is no blood on the ground, the duel is _not_ over!" declared Jessica.

"Continue the duel!" called out Odin with a heavy heart knowing that it would mean the end of his son. A son he loved even though that son was an evil, twisted, conniving bastard who took after his birth father. A son that was prophesied to prematurely end his love for Freya by burning Asgard and all the other realms into ash.

Shego felt as if reality itself was failing. She saw Kim appear and attack Ron, slashing him over his ribs. She had thought that his removing of all his upper body armor was sheer, stupid braggadocio. Not that she didn't initially appreciate the sight. There was nothing 'soft around the middle' about him anymore, in fact, he had the lean body of a martial artist. A martial artist movie star.

Zorpox was amused. That idiot had actually cut him! Laughing out loud at his own hubris, he decided that maybe it was time for this kitty to stop playing with its food. Maybe he would even be magnanimous and let Ron finish this fool. But probably not.

Not realizing that his illusion/shape changing magic was exposed, the trickster god repeated the sword thrust and again, the thrust was parried and this time the riposte shattered his shield into useless kindling. Shaking his arm to clear the battered remains off his shield arm, his blood ran cold at the young Midgardian's laugh.

"AH- _BOO-YA-HA-HA-HA!_ Midgard has a holiday where children dress up as scary creatures or as famous people and go to their neighbors' houses to get candy," Zorpox swung his iron staff down on a translucent Kim as she begged for him to stop. A sword desperately reached out and parried the heavy iron staff to the side. "Then the neighbors look at the children in their cute or scary little costumes and they say "Dearie, who are you supposed to be?"

As Loki used his sword two-handed to desperately parry staff thrusts off to the side. Zorpox continued speaking in a high-pitched voice that was supposed to be that of a little girl, "I'm Kim Possible, ma'am," Zorpox began raining down faster, more powerful blows that his opponent could barely parry, never giving him a chance to get off any counterattack. In a deeper, shaky old woman's voice he finished, "Sweetie, you can't be Kim Possible," Zorpox's voice changed to screams of fury with blows of his staff striking his foe on each word, "BECAUSE. YOU. HAVE. TWO. HANDS!"

Zorpox threw his staff down sticking it into the mat and advanced on the doomed trickster. Twisting to the side to avoid a sword thrust, he caught his opponent's sword arm in one hand as his other hand gripped the other wrist to stop a dagger blow. Twisting to the side, Zorpox performed a hip throw on Loki and before the god could recover from the stunning impact with the ground, the Midgardian drove a spear-hand into the god's chest and ripped out his heart. Spiking it to the ground in a move complete with a strutting dance that would have gotten a penalty flag thrown in a high school football game, Zorpox stood up and screamed a victorious laugh. Taking a ragged breath, he thought, 'Whoa, Ron, buddy, that was a bit over the top, don't you think?'. Zorpox snapped his fingers and the box containing the combat area dissolved into a wisp of blue mist.

Ignoring the blood running down his side and dripping off his hand, he surveyed the spectators, saying with an evil laugh of delight, "Who's next? I came here to eat meat cakes and kick ass, and I don't see any meat cakes."

Before any of his team could react, four swordsmen screaming battle cries charged him with swords raised. The Valkyries, in treating Kim, had seen many of her memories. Their favorites included memories of Ron taking her to heights of sensual pleasure and the memories of her dancing with Ron accompanied by a cheering Hana. Many of the warriors in Valhalla had found their favorite Valkyries demanding more from their men. Many blamed Ron for their former lovers suddenly demanding **Skeeball** and … and _dancing._

Shouting shrieks of insane laughter, Zorpox met their charge by leaping over them as if he didn't want to dirty his hands with their unworthy selves. That quickly changed and after a flurry of strikes and spinning kicks, the broken and dying bodies of his four attackers flew back one at a time into the crowd of shocked onlookers who now backed away. "I guess no one else wants to play, then." He taunted, seeing no other fighters seemed eager to step up.

Not willing to tolerate any further delay, his two NOPE sisters with Paksmason close behind raced up to him as he settled to the ground. Carlynn got to him first and when he raised his hand to backhand her away, she flinched. But she still reached out and softly touched him on the shoulder, figuring that looked like an uninjured place. "Ron, come back to us please," she begged softly.

Jessica was at his other side to check the wound over his ribs. "Whoa, Zorpox, buddy, you need this fixed before you take on the rest of Asgard." The cut was long, deep, and bleeding, but she didn't see bone and that was good… right? "We need a medic here, please," she called out. She had seen Ron once before in Zorpox mode during a mechanized food fight in the cafeteria. At the time, she thought it was just part of a 'bad boy' act that Ron was playing with to help attract girls. Later, Kim had told her that Zorpox-Ron (Ronpox?) had acted like she was just an obstacle in his way and not as a friend that he had known forever. That was the scariest part of the mission, the head cheerleader had confided to her friend.

"Easy there, Mr. Stoppable, easy, please don't make any more work for me." Large feminine green hands plucked his staff out of the ground like it was a dandelion stem and pressed the staff into his hands. "You can't imagine the whining I will have to endure from IT support if I have to ask them to add Nordic runes to their printer fonts so I can print court documents." Their team lawyer looked into his eyes and was comforted by the reason she saw.

One of the battle-clad Blades sprinkled salt(?!) on Loki's body then sprayed something on it. The prankster's body quickly dissolved into smoke leaving behind only a bit of gray ash.

Paksmason saw that a lot of the spectators were shaken, upset, and angry, but since nobody else had worked up the courage to attack, decided to act as if the battle was done. In the back of her mind, she figured that today's mission meant that she wouldn't be buying her own beer for a long time.

She motioned for Warluse, the team medic, who came over, holstered his sidearm, and laid his unresisting patient on the ground. "Easy there, Mad Dog, let me look at that cut," he said swiftly putting actions to words. A short moment later, he continued, "Not too deep, I'll finish cleaning the wound, a few stitches, a dressing and you'll be only slightly worse for wear."

"My name is Bjort," a woman knelt on Ron's other side, "I'm a Valkyrie healer, may I be of assistance?"

"Don't Valkyries choose the dead and carry them to Valhalla?" Carlynn asked.

"Yes, but there are no dead today worthy of Valhalla," she looked longingly at Ron, "Pity. I had hopes, but it wasn't meant to be. But in addition to choosing the dead, many of us are healers."

"That's OK, Bjort," Carlynn glared at the Valkyrie, "we have our own healer. but thanks for offering." She pulled out the green 'Thunderbolt Koga' that Jim had given her, her little finger flipping the charging switch. This 'Hussy of the Gods' was not going to _choose_ Ron Stoppable if she could help it. She suspected that Valkyries sometimes grew impatient and gave death a helping hand when making their choices.

—

Surtr woke on his fiery bed because the lava demoness sleeping beside him had sat up with a cry.

"Did you have a vision, my love?" he asked, "Is it time for me to pick up my sword, gather the Horde, and burn Asgard? Are Jormungand and Fenrir rampaging over the land? Is Loki leading the Jotunn against Asgard?"

"The prophecies are shifting my Lord, Fenrir has vanished and Loki is getting dimmer. I don't know what it means," she wailed, "I'm sorry I have failed you!"

"Be at ease, my love, remember that the all-consuming fire is patient," the King of Muspelheim soothed his distraught bedmate, gathering her up in his arms with a tender kiss and gently stroking her horns, "There will be other signs, other times…"

—

"My Lord! My Lord!", the herald raced into the throne room to tell King Utgarda-Loki, king of Jotunheim of the death of Loki at the hands of a Midgardian warrior. Finding a stranger on the throne but seeing Nal, the King's Mother, he ran over to her. "Lady Nal!" he cried, "Where is the King? I must tell him of the death of Loki!"

"Sit," replied Nal, "try one of these churros; they are all the rage in Asgard. Here, try dipping it in this chocolate. Utgarda-Loki is gone, this is King Utgarda-Ralph who will rule in his place. As much as it breaks a mother's heart to admit it, my son Loki was an evil little bastard that took after his father. My other son Ralph will be a wise and good king."

—

"OK, Sport, how many fingers am I holding up?" Shego had pulled him to his feet once the cut on his side was stitched up and bandaged.

"Two", Zorpox replied rolling his eyes.

"What's your name?"

"Zorpox the Conqueror and Supreme Ruler of the Naco Empire… remember?" Zorpox said, then broke out with a deep sigh, "Relax Shego, my name is Ron Stoppable. Really," then with a goofy grin and a short laugh, he said, "Trust me."

"Then what the hell was that crazy laugh all about, kid? You scared me half to death." Whatever he was selling, Shego wasn't buying. But she didn't say anything. Surely he couldn't have installed shark tanks already?

Jessica and Carlynn helped Zorpox into his shirt and jacket, taking care not to pull on the bandage, he nodded to them as a warlord might to his pages.

"The laugh? I'm just a happy guy, OK, Shego? Right now I need to find Kimberly Anne and see whether I need to turn The Ron loose to burn this world," Zorpox turned to the Valkyrie that had offered to help, "Will you take us to Kimberly Ann Possible? Is she alive?"

"Lady Kim was alive when I left her and with our best healer working on her, you may rest assured that she is indeed still alive and getting better by the minute," Bjort replied, "Please follow me."

He turned to his team, "Jess, Carlynn, Paksmason, Warluse; you're with me, the rest of you deploy the aggression suppression system. Be ready, we might be leaving in a hurry."

The team split up with Zorpox and his crew following the Valkyrie. The crowd of spectators melted away in front of them as if they couldn't get away from him fast enough. As they left the area, Zorpox saw Freya and Sif talking urgently to Thor while restraining him. No matter. He would deal with the god of lightning later if need be.

Something inside him was suggesting that it would be good to kill them all. They disrespected Kimberly Ann and that meant they disrespected him. Well, not the ravens. They has stopped the bleeding from her arm by first cauterizing her wound using flaming sword shards and then by making a simple tourniquet. Those birds were smarter than half the people attending the Thing.

Walking down the corridor Zorpox figured that his inner Ron was being silly because the disrespect was in the minds of weak fools and thus unimportant. He knew their worth and that was sufficient for now. No need to wreak vengeance on a population too stupid to know what was happening to them. 'I guess my job here is really done,' thought Zorpox, 'But maybe I should stick around for a while just in case.'

 _ **Aggression Supression**_

Warlanse refilled their empty pitcher at the keg sitting on the next table. Of the four half-barrel kegs containing the craft beer that they had brought, two were empty, the third was half full and the fourth was untapped. All had a special jacket designed to keep the keg cold.

"You know," said Shego as Warlanse refilled her cup from the pitcher, "I still can't believe that we lugged those kegs all the way from Earth."

"What did you _think_ we were carrying?" asked Warhong scanning the Asgardian dining hall. She was watching the Asgard warriors who were trying the beer. There had nearly been a fight when Warlanse had tasted their mead, spit it out and declared loudly that it wasn't worth using to wash the floors. That's when they had unpacked the kegs, tapped a couple and challenged the Asgardians to try a real fighting man's drink. A few claimed to still prefer mead, but they had gotten quite a few converts. This beer was definitely stronger than their mead and Warhong was on the lookout for belligerent drunks. Paksmason, their lawyer was circulating among the Asgardians listening and joining the occasional conversation. Her job was to spot Loki support and subtly point out that the young Midgardian warrior and his mate were the truly aggrieved parties.

"I don't know, some kind of weapon I guess," replied Shego.

"We would need a weapon of that size only if we were attacking some planetary fortification," declared Warlanse. Since Warhong was the designated fighter to remain on watch, her companions were free to imbibe.

Shego had been around Lowardians drinking beer for several days now and realized that she had never seen one drunk or drunk enough where she could tell. Oh, sure, get a dozen beers in Paksmonga and you could get her to tell you funny stories about Pakshok's time as a Lieutenant straight from Command School, but her eyes still looked sharp and her hands and voice were rock steady.

Warlanse continued, "We decided that we didn't need heavy weapons. Warnatius figured that our Lowardian battle armor was good enough for most enchanted weapons. And besides, we were crashing a courtroom. The warriors in the jury were lightly armed and the main table only had three or four heavy fighters.

"And look at our team. We have the three of us, the finest damn Blades in the Empire, an Elementalist that throws fire, a Druid that controls plants, a Mystical Monkey Master who is pretty scary, and a lawyer who is really scary." Warlanse finished.

"Well, given that we were going up against gods, a big weapon would have made me feel better, even with a lawyer," declared Shego.

Warlanse and Warhong broke out into a laugh that filled the room. It was a laugh of triumph and joy, a laugh that raised the spirits of all who heard it.

They heard a cheer from the next table over. Drakken was using vines to power his arm wrestling and had just beaten another Asgardian warrior. For some reason, they thought that being beaten by a 'tree-man' was funny. Probably the beer helped.

Warlanse said, "You have a saying that what is important is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, yes?"

"Uh, yeah, I've heard that," admitted Shego.

"I was expecting a battle in the courtroom when you moved out in front with flaming hands, saying 'Back off you weak fools, We've got Ragnarok on a stick here, so don't push it!' We have no idea what a 'Ragnarok on a stick' is, but nobody in the room was willing to find out."

"Yeah, well," Shego sheepishly admitted, "I don't know why I said that, but it sounded good at the time."

Warlanse and Warhong broke out in another laugh.

Warhong raised her cup of beer and shouted, "To Shego who has the biggest fight of any dog in this room!"

Even the Asgardian warriors who were close enough and sober enough to follow the conversation cheered for Shego.

When the noise had settled a bit, Drakken, taking a break from arm wrestling to drink some water, asked, "Why the salt and acid spray on Loki's body?"

Warhong replied, "That was Warnatius's suggestion. He was researching ways to keep supernatural beings from coming back to life. It was in a document on fighting witches and vampires. That was the closest he could find, so we told him we'd try it."

"You fight witches and vampires?" asked Drakken.

"Nope, never heard of anyone fighting them. I'd say they were just stories if we weren't teamed with an Elementalist, a Druid and a Mystical Monkey Master," said Warhong.

Shego looked around the dining hall. All the Asgardians werer reasonably orderly. The most disturbing thing in the room was the group three tables over that thought they could sing. Something beside the off-key bellowing told her that she needed to be elsewhere. She snagged a servant who was refreshing bowls of bread on the table. "Do you know where I can find Lady Kim? She is being treated for her wounds by someone named Eir."

The servant curtsied and replied, "Yes, my lady."

"I'm not a lady, I'm Shego, just Shego," turning to Warlanse and Drakken, she said, "Drew, 'Lanse, I've got a bad feeling about something, I'm going to check on the others. Call me if you need me, I'll do the same."

She turned to the servant, telling them, "Take me there. Now."

 ** _Justice_**

Zorpox walked alongside Bjort down the hall with Paksmason close behind with Warluse and his NOPE sisters bringing up the rear. Warlanse stopped at the dining hall with the rest to deploy the "aggression suppression package".

Zorpox was mostly happy about his recent combat. Not ecstatic as he didn't really consider it a real challenge of wits. The four charging swordsmen were no challenge at all. Ron, even without the MMP could have taken them out. As they left the dueling area, he had smiled to himself when he heard the distinctive whine of charging capacitors coming from behind him. Definitely the sound of a high voltage/high power pulse energy system built by Jim and Tim. His minions were taking responsibility for their own safety and that meant fewer distractions for him.

The Lowardian medic had been a Emperor's Blade for long enough and had seen enough battle that he could soon apply for early retirement. He had briefly considered it, but he was quite happy serving with Commander Pakshok and his current extended team. The other Blades were like siblings to him, Shego and Drew were good troop to have at your back and an entertaining couple as well, alternately affectionate and snarky. Ron was a good man to have at your side in a fight, although this 'Zorpox' persona was a little scary.

And now they had 'The Lawyer' on their team. She was not what the medic expected. In the courtroom when things were looking like they just might 'go to hell in a handbasket' (his new favorite phrase) she didn't hesitate to charge up front to Ron to try to help out. His first thought was that she was an idiot, but then he realized that she had seen a place where she could help the team and jumped in, trusting that he and the other Blades would watch her back. High praise indeed, he thought.

Coming to a wide opening with no door, Bjort and Zorpox stopped at the opening. After checking the hallway to make sure no one else was in sight, the medic stepped up behind them to look into the room. (Being seven-feet, eleven-inches in height has its advantages.) He saw an auburn-haired woman working on the body of a young red-haired woman. She appeared to be closing an incision over her ribs with some material that looked like fine netting. Sunlight shone from an opening in the ceiling making the patient on the raised table appear to be something to be worshiped on an altar. Or sacrificed. He shook his head at the last thought, too many horror novels about the Old Ones, he decided. Perhaps he should try a romance novel like the ones that Paksmonga favored.

"Eir, this is Ron Stoppable, Lady Kim's mate. Is it safe for him to approach?", said Bjort.

When the healer turned around after covering her patient with a golden blanket, the medic thought that she was a grown copy of Warhong's tiny foe, even down to the freckles. Her speech lacked the youngster's distinctive accent, "Yes, you all can come in. I have healed the broken ribs and sealed the incision in her side. She is safe from contamination of her wounds."

The medic followed Zorpox as he walked up to the young woman that he figured was Kim Possible. The young man stopped, seemingly unwilling to touch her. The medic wanted to give their mission target a quick check in case they needed to do a fast retreat. Pulling a pocket ultrasound scope out of a thigh pouch, he gently pushed the healer aside, pulled back the blanket and started scanning Kim's chest and abdomen. The healer, fascinated by a machine that did what she did mentally, looked at the screen as the medic passed it over the patient's body.

"I am Eir," she said, "Chief Healer for the Valkyries," reaching out to guide his hand, she pointed out the places where she had mended tissue and fused bone.

"I am Warluse, combat healer," the medic replied, "What other injuries have you seen?"

"Other than her right hand is missing, just some abrasions and bruises."

"Ronnie, you came," a hoarse voice spoke with a slight touch of wonder, "you came for me."

"The Ron man will always come for you, Kimberly Ann Possible," Zorpox replied coolly then continued more sternly, "Always. Although it would make things easier if you would tell him where you are. And, oh, I don't know, send him a note when you are picnicking on the planet…"

"Kimberly Ann… Zorpox? Oh, no, Ronnie, what have you done?" Kim held out her arms in distress to her lover, the right arm ending in a bandaged stump.

Zorpox looked at her arms coolly, "Ronnie was afraid that finding that you were hurt would cause him to go all mad-monkey and burn this world to ashes and then pee on the ashes or something like that. Seeing how you seem to be the worse for wear, I feel he made the correct decision."

"So he turned himself evil in order to not be evil? Excuse me, but that is just wrong-sick!"

"Ah, but Kimberly Ann, I'm not actually evil without something explicitly adding it to my personality. Consider me as a borderline psychopath with some flavor of attention span disorder. But compared to your Ronnie, I can be more focused and not as easily distracted.

"So Ronnie is lost?"

"No, my dear Kimberly Ann, quite frankly without a grand goal or something equally entertaining, I get bored. A five percent solution is for weak minded fools without options so as soon as the mission of rescuing you is over, or you are safe enough that providing my services becomes boring, I am out of here! Or to be more technically correct, since I am not an independent, unique personality, I will morph back in to the old boring sidekick you know and apparently love. It's more like a knob than a switch."

"I… I don't understand."

"To put it simply, I am the Bruce Banner to your Ronnie, the Incredible Monkey Master Hulk."

Eir moved over between Kim and her mate. "Kim dear, you really need to sleep a bit, sorry to break this up, but…" She touched a protesting Kim's forehead with her finger tips and Kim sagged bonelessly back on the table.

Turning to Zorpox, the master healer said, "Just what in the cold Hells did you think you were doing chewing out Lady Kim when she is barely beginning to heal! Are you stupid or just cruel!"

"Excuse me, ma'am," interrupted Carlynn, "Ron isn't the sharpest sword in the armory when it comes to women, but he does love her and I don't think he's quite himself right now."

"Seriously, I think Ron took on a different personality to fight the Holmgang with Loki and hasn't flipped back to normal quite yet," Jessica added.

"Dissociative Identity Disorder?" scoffed Eir. stepping closer to the young man and inhaling. "That's a myth. But I do smell blood, where were you wounded? Are you crazy to challenge Lord Loki to a Holmgang? You are lucky that it is only to first blood." Eir dropped to one knee, opened Zorpox's jacket, pulled up his shirt and started inspecting the bandaged wound. Zorpox just stood there with a bemused look on his grinning face.

"It's not a myth," Shego said quietly, "The first time I saw it, a device rewired his mind. He was the scariest person I have ever run across until they managed to use the device to return him to normal."

Eir stood up looking at Warluse, "Nicely done, is this your work?" When he nodded, she stepped over to a table, took a golden fruit out of a bowl and turning back to Zorpox, she looked at him like he was some sort of insect. "Eat this, you can skip the tough core and seeds. It will accelerate healing of your wound."

Bjort stepped up close to Eir and Zorpox. "Eir, Ron didn't lose. He killed Loki. No Valkyries chose him. His body has been burned to ash."

"No great loss. Surprised it took so long for him to piss off the wrong person. Were you able to recover her hand?" asked Eir watching Zorpox crunch into the apple.

"No, it was burned to ash and the ashes scattered," answered Bjort.

"Not all of it," Zorpox tossed a charred object to Eir.

Eir caught the bone and looked at it with annoyance, "Well this isn't going to help. I think the heat has denatured the DNA. I supposed Brokk and Sindri will have to make her a Dwarven replacement."

"Ooh, I can help with that! I can design her a hand that will make Gemini's look like a can opener!" Zorpox started to enthuse, but stopped looking puzzled. "What exactly is this doing to me?" he held up the mostly eaten apple.

"Well, there is a long list of benefits, but for now the important part is that it helps make that little beard of yours softer, accelerates the healing in that cut on your side, and resets the levels and distribution of serotonin in your nervous system."

"Ah, so it forces the personality knob to turn from eleven back to Ron. Interesting. But you should know that Ron didn't pick me for my mad skills with the ladies," smirked Zorpox, "He picked me because he believes that I am less homicidal than he is." Zorpox relaxed feeling the imaginary dial slowly start to turn from eleven back to Ron.

"It's not permanent, in about a couple of hours, the process that made you the "less-homicidal" version of Kim's mate will be able to be repeated," explained Eir.

Warluse looked up in time to see Zorpox become one hundred percent Ron. It wasn't a large change in physical appearance, just little details in posture, the way he held his arms and his eyes. Especially the eyes changing from cold to eyes looking at his mate warm with love. Eyes that changed to hot with blue rage as he saw the bandaged stump.

"When can I speak to her?" Ron asked.

"Now, if you can be kind to her and not yell at her," Eir looked Ron in the eyes for a moment. At Ron's nod, she leaned over and touched the red head on the temple.

Green eyes opened an looked at Ron. "Ronnie, is it really you?" Kim held out her arms again to her lover. This time Ron carefully went into her arms, wrapping his arms around her tightly trying not to crush the young woman.

"KP," said Ron softly, "It will be OK. I'm here. I'm here. I love you KP."

Distraught, she woman clutched him tighter, as if he was a Pandaroo and she was a broken hearted preteen. "Ronnie, I'm sorry, I should have kept in contact, I'm so sorry…"

"Hush now KP, we'll talk later. Right now, you're being OK is all that is important." Ron straightened up a little so that he could see her better.

Kim froze in his arms, "Why is there a Lowardian standing here?", she asked very quietly.

"Emperor's Blade Combat Medic Warlanse, ma'am. I am pleased to meet you," the large green armored man said, putting his ultrasonic scanner back in a leg patch.

"He's a good guy KP, The ones we fought were pirates. We have a lot to catch each other up on," Ron replied, looking at the entrance, he repeated, "a lot to catch up on."

"Master Stoppable, I wish to thank you for providing an honorable death for my brother Loki, you have saved him from the prophesied fate of dying ignominiously bringing death to the rest of my family and Ragnarok to this realm," the sorrow in Thor's eyes belied his expression of thanks.

Ron stood up and watched Thor walk into the the room accompanied by Sif, his axe strapped to his back and carrying a small, strongly build chest. He walked over to Jessica and set the chest at her feet. "Here is the weregild as agreed."

Jessica opened the chest and found it containing small gold bars each measuring roughly three inches long, an inch and a half wide and a quarter-inch thick. Mentally estimating that the chest contained two-hundred bars and each bar was ten ounces, she decided that to be polite, she wouldn't count them. "Thank you," she said. 'Besides,' she thought, I don't have a way to verify the purity of gold.'

Thor stepped over closer to Ron and Kim, ignoring the rising whine of Thunderbolt Kogas and the slight smell of ozone from Shego.

"Lady Kim, by the rules of Holmgang, you are declared innocent of the assault charges against Loki."

"Holmgang? What's a Holmgang? Wait, assault charges?" asked a definitely out of the loop Kim.

"It is a duel to settle disputes," the god of lightning then growled, "it is supposed to settle disputes without unnecessary deaths!"

"Ron fought Loki in sort of a cage match, K. Ron killed him. The Valkyries refused to choose him. Our team burned his body, he won't assault you or anyone else again," Jessica explained.

"Loki was not the attacker, he was the victim of Lady Kim. We are gods, we protect the realms and their people," objected Thor.

Carlynn ranted, advancing on the blonde god, "You call yourself a god?! Where were you when the Lowardian pirates were attacking the Earth! When they were going to kill Ron and Kim? What kind of a puny wretch of a god can't even protect a defenseless woman from being mutilated! A woman that was alone and defenseless because that was the way you left her!"

"Wait, what woman?" asked Shego.

"In the courtroom Thor testified that he was holding Kim in a trance to prevent her from using her hammer," said Jessica, growling, "Thor was seen carrying an unconscious Kim down to the dungeons after she got back from the Dwarves."

Kim snarled, "It was you _!_ You paralyzed me and left me unprotected for _days!_ I thought we were friends!"

"Friends or not Lady Kim, you had to be held to account for your crime." The god of Thunder (but not Justice) grimly replied as a panicked Sif desperately tried to drag the huge Asgardian out of the room, in the desperate hope that retribution would pass her husband by this day.

A whistling noise from the open window caught Ron's attention, Kim reflexively raised her bandaged arm to catch it, but since she had no hand, it flew past and into Ron's hand surprising him. He stared at the short handle of an oversized hammer that had slapped into his hand.

Kim lay back down staring at her bandaged arm in horror. "It really happened, it wasn't a dream…" she whispered to herself

Ron, unconsciously mirroring his soul mate's nervous habit, spun the Hammer.

"Do you call for a duel?", Thor asked Ron.

"Dude, I am so past dueling right now…that I am _now_ thinking Vendetta… Heck, maybe the whole city, not just the family." Ron replied as the light in the room took on a blue cast, "This crap stops now… You let it _get_ this far… and you all supported it. You guys are the disease and I'm gonna be the cure." The screams of enraged monkeys filled the room.

Warluse lunged in front of the table to shield Kim with his body, reaching for his sidearm as Thor drew his axe and raised it in the air, lightning dancing from the blade. A strong hand clamped on the Lowardian's wrist keeping his weapon in his holster. Looking to the side, he saw a normal sized human with a short beard that covered most of his face. The man looked at him with a devilish gleam in his eye, caught the incoming medic's punch with ease and said, "Watch and LEARN!"

Ron rose in the air as a maelstrom started moving objects in the room. Sif cried out as Thor shook her off, tossing her out of the room.

Carlynn screamed wordlessly, raising her weapon as did a pale faced Jessica. Shego had green fire running up to her elbow as she prepared to throw a massive ball of plasma.

Lightning seared the air connecting the axe with Ron's iron staff and the electric kogas held by Jessica and Carlynn. Thor swung his axe at Carlynn intending to hit her with the flat of the blade as if swatting an annoying fly when Shego's ball of plasma stuck him driving him back nearly to the door. Both his sisters fired off their thunderbolts and the lightning god was driven to one knee.

Ron felt a hand on his back. "Please don't kill him, Please Ron."

A memory of his dream appeared, a dim vision of blood, destruction and vengeance. Holding up the Hammer in his hand, he whispered "Justice" and it ignited in a rumble of blue fire. Thor gave a mighty battle cry and slowly stood up, armor smoking and exposed flesh showing plasma burns. The Mystical Monkey Justice Master threw the fiery blue Hammer striking Thor dead center.

A blue ball, brighter than the sun erupted and slowly faded away as the Hammer flew back to Ron's waiting hand.

Sif ran into the room, sobbing and along with Eir picked up not the huge, muscular body of her husband; but the small, slender, teenage girl's body of her husband.

The bearded man released the medic's arm saying, "It really is the Hammer of Justice. But in this case, the wielder made it 'never be normal' Justice." Laughing, he turned to the entrance, raising his hand in greeting to the incredibly attractive woman and the scruffy looking man with an eye patch. And the dozen warriors crowding the hallway behind them.

"Sun, what happened here?" asked the woman, walking into the room.

"Lady Freya," answered Sun Wukong, "Mjöllnir, wielded by a Mystical Monkey Master, has produced justice without dealing death or destruction.

A high pitched wail of horror was heard from where Eir and Sif were examining the Target of Justice, "What do you mean this change is permanent!"

Freya dryly spoke, "It appears that Justice is not always easily accepted."


	14. Together Forever

**_Author's Note_**

 ** _My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)_**

 ** _All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and_** ** _Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also)_** ** _, and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati._**

 _ **Thora**_

"Kjrr," said the young blonde girl, "They're right, I am no longer fit to command." She looked up at the massive, grizzled Viking with traces of tears in her eyes.

Kjrr looked down at the young girl walking beside him. Thor, the god of lightning and the best fighter in all of Asgard had been changed into a young girl, perhaps fourteen winters in age. Freya had sent him to sit in on Thor's morning meeting with his captains and he was surprised by the lack of respect those captains were showing their cursed commander. In fact, he had literally knocked a couple of heads together when he walked in to find that the young "Thora" looked like she was about to be assaulted by a couple of the men present. He believed that if he had been a few minutes later in arriving, there would now be bodies cooling on the floor.

Kjrr was old, old enough to remember a young Thor. Gods, just like people, rarely get a second chance at life and Kjrr was going to see that the young Thora got the chance to be what he wanted. Or rather, what she wanted.

Freyr, Freya's brother, had shown up a few minutes later to take over as their temporary leader before Kjrr had to provide any further lessons in respect and manners.

"Are you going to ask for Holmgang on the man that did this to you?"

The young girl laughed without humor, held out her arms and did a little twirl before continuing to walk beside her companion, "I'm not crazy, I haven't the strength to fight a duel. Asking for a champion to fight for me would just prove what I have lost."

She walked a little farther and continued, "The change is more than just physical. It is not like when I donned a bridal dress and traveled to gain Mjollner back from Thrym. Then, I was still Thor, but in a woman's clothing. I am not Thor in a girl's body, my mind is changing as well. The anger from losing the size and strength that made me the fiercest and best fighter in Asgard is fading. I am slowly becoming a little girl with a little girl's heart and soul."

The pair stopped at the sound of footsteps coming up behind them.

"Thor, I would speak to you in private, please," Sigyn requested, her face flushed with emotion.

"Please, Sigyn. Call me Thora. Thor is gone and is not coming back," answered the young girl. "My apartment is just down the hallway."

"Pardon me, I don't know if we have met, but I need to speak to Thora alone," Sigyn looked coolly at Thora's companion who appeared to have every intention of sticking with his young charge.

"I am Kjrr, Lady Sigyn. Freya has charged me with being Miss Thora's housecarl and for now, where she goes, I go."

Sigyn who was used to such intransigence from people like him simply gave a small snort of annoyance and followed the pair into Thora's apartment.

Sitting by the windows looking out over the city, the two women looked at Kjrr who, looking a bit out of place, said, "Miss, would you or your guest care for some tea or other refreshment?"

Thora looked up, a bit startled by the question from a person who was for all intents and purposes, a senior battle sergeant, "Actually, I would like a glass of Midgardian pale ale if there is any left."

"Tea will be fine," replied Sigyn. Turning to the young woman, she said, "I'd be careful of alcoholic beverages in that new body of yours until you get more used to it. Is the change really permanent?"

"Yes, Eir and Freya agree that this is not an illusion or a simple curse, but a transformation of my entire body structure down to the cell level."

Sigyn swore quietly under her breath, "Odin's ravens! So what are you going to do about it?"

The young goddess laughed, a laugh with more bitterness than humor, "I will learn how to be a young girl and to live without the advantages of a full-size hero's body."

"And what does Sif say? I expect that she will miss that 'full-size male' body as much as you will."

"She is being inscrutable, mumbles something about 'start playing for the other team in a few years' and says that just maybe I can get my sense of justice back."

"Justice? Like getting justice for your brother Loki? Duels are not supposed to be to the death! Kim's mate ripped his heart out and laughed while he danced over his dead body!"

"Freya has warned me to not seek vengeance for my brother. I do miss him, he really was my brother even if adopted."

"Loki was my husband. I was prophesied to stand over him for nearly an eternity trying to protect him from pain. I loved him enough that I would have done so willingly. Now, while I am spared that fate, I am denied his company, his touch, his affection for the rest of eternity."

With a degree of grace that was unexpected from such a massive fighter, Kjrr came over with a tray and placed a mug of steaming tea, a small glass of amber liquid, and a plate of cookies onto a small table between the goddesses.

Thora took the glass, closed her eyes in bliss, and took a sip of the precious golden liquid. She set the glass down on a coaster and picked up a cookie to nibble.

Sigyn took a sip of her tea and looked at the grizzled Viking suspiciously. The tea was sweetened to her liking and even had the touch of citrus she preferred.

"Will that be all, for now, Miss?" Thora felt that she was in some storybook or something. She answered, "Yes, that will be all for now, Sergeant. This is very nice, thank you very much."

Kjrr tucked the tray under his arm then turned and walked to return the tray to the little kitchen area and then went to stand by the door. ' _Housecarl'_ seems too soft a word to me. Perhaps I will call myself Thora's _armsman_ ,' he pondered, 'Yes I think that _armsman_ sounds more like an occupation for a man. Implies more of a fighter than a fetcher of cookies and tea.'

Watching as the two women walked out on the balcony to chat in the warm sun, he thought 'I wonder if I can get Hrolf and Thrasi to join me as fellow armsmen.'

With a growing sense of dread, he watched Thora reach back through the open glass door to the war axe propped against the wall. It started to fall over, then flew towards her hand, nearly knocking the young woman over when she caught it. His dread turned to satisfaction as he saw her struggle, then successfully raise the heavy weapon using one hand up to the open sky. A moment later a blinding bolt of lightning struck the axe, traveling down the girl's arm across her body and out her other outstretched arm, dissipating into the space beyond the balcony.

The two women spoke for a bit longer, then Sigyn walked into the apartment, across the room, and out the door without acknowledging the 'armsman' she walked past. Sigyn's grim frown was terrible to behold. Thora looked thoughtful, then came inside, sat down, took another small sip of her beer and selected another cookie from the plate.

"Is there anything you need, Miss?"

"Get yourself something to drink and come back and sit down. I want to talk about the meaning of Justice. And stop calling me 'Miss'. 'Thora' will do when you need to call me something," his charge commanded, "particularly when we are alone." She dipped her cookie in her glass and took a bite of it.

"Justice? Of all the people I can think of you are the last person I'd expect to need to discuss Justice with."

"My memories of life as Thor, God of Thunder are becoming as dreams," the young woman explained, her eyes showing the vulnerability she felt by telling him this, "Freya told me to trust you and rely on your guidance for, well, many things."

"But I saw you call the lightning!"

"Kjrr," large, earnest eyes of youth looked at him, "Thor, the God of Thunder lost his sense of Justice and that didn't really bother him. I want to become Thora, Goddess of Justice and Defender of Realms. I need you to help me. I've lost the cynicism that crippled Thor. But I've also lost his knowledge of Justice. Maybe with your help, I can once again become the _Hand that holds the Hammer_."

The grizzled senior veteran walked over to the little kitchen area and poured himself a large mug of the Midgardian Pale Ale instead of the weaker mead. He was confident that he could guide his young charge in the direction she wanted. He remembered the stories of his youth where a hero was someone who was feared by those doing evil and loved by cheering crowds of common folk. He could turn this girl into such a hero. It might take years and it most assuredly would make him a better man and fighter, but frankly, he had been coasting too long and looked forward to the challenge.

Sitting down across from his young student, he started, "Don't make the mistake of confusing Justice with Vengeance. Justice is more rational than emotional. Justice isn't about getting even, it is about righting a wrong that violates a people's standard of fairness and equity. Justice cannot be for one side only, Justice must be for both sides."

"Was what happened to me, Justice?"

"Let's examine the events. Loki started the circle when he struck Lady Kim, then Lady Kim ripped off parts of his body, then he cut off her hand and beat her nearly to death when she was defenseless, then finally her mate killed him. An indication of vengeance is the escalation of violence in each turn of the circle. This part was clearly Vengeance, not Justice."

Kjrr took a large draught of beer, he had forgotten what thirsty work these kinds of discussion were. He continued, "In the conflict between you and Kim's mate, you put Lady Kim in a defenseless position where she was abused by Loki. You did that because since she was a woman, you felt that she didn't deserve the same respect or honorable treatment that a male warrior would have deserved. The Hammer changed you into a woman, perhaps that you might learn firsthand the way we treat women is neither equitable nor fair."

"I'm not sure I understand," the young student admitted, "I thought justice was an 'eye for an eye' sort of thing."

"That is a very old concept of justice. The problem with it is that people always want more done to their enemies than was done to them. It is too easy to slip into a repeating cycle of vengeance where soon everyone is blind and toothless."

He remembered now that he preferred sword drills to philosophical discussions, but pressed on, "But instead of you trying to turn Kim's mate into a little girl or worse, you are asking for help to become a Champion of Justice and Defender of the people who live in all the realms. I suspect that the Hammer decided that the real injury was that you did not respect Lady Kim because she was a woman. Justice requires fairness and equity and the Hammer made you a woman to let you learn that women deserve respect by giving you a chance of becoming a woman who deserves respect. I believe that in your journey to become a Champion of Justice you will encounter people who expect you to fail because you are a girl."

"Do you expect me to fail because I am a girl?"

"Miss Thora, I fought beside Lady Kim against giants. She directed her men well and smartly, fought giant champions herself when they broke through our lines. After the battle, she did not look to her own wounds until after her wounded were taken care of. I learned that day that how a person pees has no bearing on how well they can lead or fight. How good you are at becoming the Champion of Justice depends on how hard you work at it. In a male body, you grew up to be the Champion of Asgard. I believe that if you work at it, you can be as good a champion as you were before. Maybe better. You won't have the raw strength you had the last time, so you will have to be smarter this time. Lady Kim could wield the hammer without using Thor's iron gauntlets, so raw strength isn't everything."

"I think that makes sense. Can we talk more about it later? I'd like to do some sword drills before dinner."

As they walked to the training Salle, Kjrr wondered, 'I wonder how long it will be before she realizes that fairness and equity also applies to the privileges and courtesies given to her as a goddess of Asgard versus common folk or even warriors like me.'

Kjrr found that the little girl's body had not kept any of Thor's muscle memory, but something was there. He might have to show her a move twice, but never three times. He decided that they would dine at Sessrumnir, Freya's hall. He wanted to talk to some of his men plus he thought that Thora would like to pet and play with Freya's cats, Smokey and Misty. His young student might have the heart of a champion, but it was still the heart of a young girl. He decided to ask Freya and Sif about how to treat young girls, that was one area he had no experience in. He vaguely seemed to think that they liked small figures of people or animals to play with. He thought they were called 'dolls'.

 _ **The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow**_

"I'm ready for breakfast, where is Ron?" Carlynn grumped. She and Jessica sat on overstuffed chairs in a large apartment high on the main castle's southern wall where the entire team had spent the night. The 'L's were out on 'recon', at least that was what they had told Carlynn when they left this morning. Carlynn had gotten up early, she had slept poorly the last two nights, troubled by dreams.

Right on cue, Paksmason opened the door for Ron who was carrying two covered platters on a tray.

Ron frowned at the two, "You aren't chatting with KP?"

Jessica replied turning to point at Kim sitting on the balcony in the morning sun, "She wanted to be left alone to meditate."

"She's all yours, caveman, we're off to get some breakfast," said Carlynn, pulling Jessica to her feet and out the door, taking the Lawyer with them.

Ron set the food laden tray on the table, then walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the entire wall. Sliding open a section, he stepped onto the balcony.

"KP, I've got breakfast," he announced, "want to eat out here or inside?"

"Inside," the redhead replied, "I think I've had enough sun this morning," walking past him at the door, she radiated unhappiness that weighed heavily on Ron's heart. "I really didn't need babysitters this morning, Ronald," she quietly snapped.

Ron reached out and snagged her as she walked past. Wrapping his arms around her rigid body from behind, he nuzzled her hair, saying "I love you KP. Love you now, love you forever. You were asleep when I left to make breakfast, Carlynn offered to stay in case you felt like company or, God forbid, in case somebody came to hassle you."

"'Cause I couldn't take care of myself with only one hand?" Ron thought he felt a teardrop fall on his forearm.

"Naw, I'm thinking they were both hoping to use their thunderbolt sticks again."

"Thunderbolt sticks?" Her body finally started to relax into the warmth of his arms.

"Yeah, Jim and Tim made them and your dwarven buddies upgraded them. They can throw a bolt of lightning about six feet or shock anything they touch. Bzzzt," Ron had bent his head down with his lips running along her neck and shoulder, "Bzzzt, Bzzzt," making zapping noises then blew little raspberries on her skin.

"Ronnie!" Kim squealed, nearly collapsing in a fit of giggles, "No fair, that tickles!"

"Let's start over," Ron helped her stand straight, turning her to face him while holding her by the waist, "Good morning, KP, love of my life, I made you breakfast. Are you hungry?"

Kim surrendered her bad mood and visibly brightened, putting her good arm around his neck, "Morning, Ronnie, I love you and I'm famished," pulling him close for a slow kiss. Pulling back, she said, "Jury is still out on the mustache. Maybe trim it back a little?"

Ron stepped around the table and pulled out a chair for her. She managed not to roll her eyes or complain about being babied but said, "Thanks."

Ron uncovered the first platter, "The guys around here eat meat on meat with meat on the side and I figured that you were getting tired of it. I got into the back kitchen and managed to fix us this. It's a gnocchi-like dish made with some sort of potato, some kind of chopped oats and onions and tomatoes. Has heavy cream and a fried egg on top." He lifted the lid on the other platter. "And under here we have toasted muffins, butter, and jam. Is that OK?"

"Smells great, I'm game to try it," Kim discovered that she was famished and dug in.

Ron added a small bowl of fruit slices to the table. "Eir says for us to split this. She says that eating these will help us in ways that she didn't have time to go into."

They ate for a while in companionable silence. Kim was surprised that Ron had made her a meatless breakfast. She had been thinking of studying Buddhism and going vegetarian to help her spirit recover from all the killing that had surrounded her but had not told him. Was her Ron that perceptive?

She hadn't really talked more than a dozen words to him since he showed up in Asgard. She remembered Zorpox chastising her for being surprised that Ron would come for her and for not telling Ron where she was. She remembered waking back up and had fuzzy memories of her Ron being back, Thor coming in, harsh words being exchanged about Ron killing Loki in a duel and a short fight where Ron used the Hammer. Thor wasn't killed, but the Hammer had changed him into a young girl?

After things had calmed down, she had tried to talk about what had happened, but her stories came out confused and frustrated, she ended up crying. Eir had told Ron, "Lady Kim is a mess mentally due to the drugs that kept her asleep and the healing process. Come back in the morning when she will be lucid." Ron refused to leave, so they and his team were taken to this apartment where Ron was told in no uncertain terms "No physical relations with your mate until I tell you it is OK."

She spent the evening sitting in his lap, just basking in his Ronness and listening to the others talk. She had spent the night wrapped in his arms and woke to find him gone 'to get you a decent breakfast' as explained by her former cheer squad teammate.

"So, Ron, what have you been up to since I saw you last?" Kim held out her goblet which Ron refilled from a carafe of cold water.

"Not much KP, I got settled into college, been taking classes, got a woman pregnant, been chilling with Lowardians,…"

"WHAT!" Kim spluttered out the sip of water she had just taken. "Pregnant?! Wow, I wasn't expecting it this soon. How did…"

"It was a turkey baster kind of thing," Ron interrupted, "Your Mom was there KP, it was all on the up and up. Jess wrote up the contracts, she is doing an arbitrator internship for the BHS. Awanata and Joseph are a great couple and already have two of the most adorable daughters you can imagine. Almost as cute as Hana. They emailed me a picture of the sonogram thing, all I could see were blobs, but there was a baby in there somewhere. They live in the country next to their extended family, and they have horses. How cool is that?"

Ron saw Kim's face fall. "KP, talk to me. What's the sitch? I mean we talked about the BHS stuff."

"Ron, they offered to make me an Asgardian goddess. Said I could make a difference in their society. I told them no, then they offered to make you immortal so we could remain together. I was still thinking no, but that I needed to come talk to you when everything went to hell."

"Wow KP. A Goddess. Think that the offer is still open? Who made the offer?"

"Thor and Loki, but…"

Ron looked stricken, "I'm sorry! You had something great going and I ruined it!"

"No Ron," Kim put her left hand on his, "I was miserable. They had me try out to be a commander of troops, Ron. I was directing battles! I was fighting and killing! Then I find out that I was fighting for nothing _!_ No people were in danger…these idiots just like to fight. I was talking to Freya, she told me that I need you for balance, that I need to find an adventure that we can share, but it's too late. You've gone on without me, you've got a college life, a family started with a child on the way…" Tears appeared in her eyes.

"No. Stop," Ron scooted around to sit beside her so he could put an arm around her. "This baby won't really be my child."

"OK, maybe technically," Ron cut off Kim who looked ready to argue, "but it doesn't need me. It has a mother and father ready to love and care for it along with a grandmother, plus aunts and uncles who live literally the next houses down. At most, I might be able to be 'cousin Ron' who drops in from time to time to teach martial arts and spoil the kids. You and I are so far down on the custody list for the kids in case something happens to the parents that it will never happen."

"Me? Kids?" asked Kim.

"Well, yeah," replied Ron, "your Nana had a letter giving Jess power of attorney and she signed for you because I said that we had talked about the general case and you wanted it. If we ever had to take care of this child, we'd have to take the two sisters also," Ron tried not to panic, "But I'm sure Jess can change that if you don't want to be on that list."

"No, no, let's not be hasty," Kim gave his hand a squeeze and decided to ask about normal things. 'By Odin's Ravens', she thought, 'I want to hear about something that is so not the drama'. Trying to keep her feelings of abandonment out of her eyes, she said, "Back up a bit, tell me about school."

Then she looked at her hand holding Ron's. Of all the body parts that she typically checked out on Ron, his arms weren't high on the list. Usually he wore a long-sleeved mock-turtleneck shirt under a short-sleeved jersey. But today, he had on a black short-sleeved technical-tee shirt, the kind that fit close to the body to help keep you cool. Later she would notice that the close fit looked good on him. But for now, the large red mark on his right forearm caught her eye. The large red tattoo of a simple heart. A heart with a ribbon floating across the front that said simply "KP". Tears building in her eyes she murmured, "Ron, you sweet goof. Now I suppose I need to get one."

Ron followed her eyes to see what she was looking at. "I was totally sober when I got it. Actually, my sister's tattoo was the inspiration."

"Hana has a tattoo?"

"No, at least I don't think so, I mean my other sister, Rhi. Let me start at the beginning." Ron started telling her about showing up at school to discover that 'Ronnie Trappable' had been assigned to the Pi Epsilon chapter of the Nu Omicron sorority and that Jess had fixed the paperwork but kept him assigned to NOPE. At first, he thought that Kim's narrowed eyes might indicate that he had just set Jessica up for a Kung Fu demonstration, but by the time he got to his performance as the referee at the _Naked Pillow Fight of Honor_ followed by the _Feast of the Fresh Churros of Eternal Sisterhood,_ Kim was laughing.

Ron did gloss over some of the more intense drama and conversations surrounding those events. Recent troubles had left dark circles under her eyes and her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, but smiling and laughing gave her a beauty that still nearly stopped his heart. At one time, he had worried that she was destined for the stars, now that he had a chance at the stars, she was on other worlds, hanging out with gods.

Pushing his doubts down, he continued with his tale of college life and his meeting Rhianna Pimm, an amateur magician (with a magic tattoo!), aspiring MMP master and his genetic sister along with his other NOPE sisters. When he got to the story of the sisters threatening him if he did anything to take advantage of Rhi, he thought she would laugh, but she appeared thoughtful instead.

* * *

Sun Wukong drifted down to the balcony and looked in at the young couple lingering over breakfast. The young woman was planned by a group of meddlers to become the "Chosen One" and the next Mystical Monkey Master. That the Lotus Blade came to her hand was evidence that the meddling was effective, but random chance caused the young man and his mole rat companion to absorb the bound power including the Avatar that he had so carefully placed in the statues hundreds of years ago. 'Sometimes random chance does better that any planning of gods… or Monkey Kings,' he thought, laughing to himself in delight.

He hadn't intended to be away from the Middle Kingdom for so long, but shortly after he created the statues there was this incident where he might have unintentionally peed on the Buddha. The Jade Emperor was not amused and had imprisoned him. Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, was offering him freedom from imprisonment in exchange for his help escorting a monk on a journey to the West. He had about two days left before he had to meet Xuanzang, the monk that he was to escort, so there was no better time than now to address this last Mystical Monkey Master and his Chosen One.

Starting to slide the door panel open, he paused when the hallway door opened and the rest of the team walked in. It was not in his nature to go unnoticed, and to be truthful most of the trouble he found himself in was due to his desire to be noticed and recognized as a Celestial Equal. Still, he could be unnoticeable when it was to his advantage, so he opened the door just a crack to hear better and faded from view.

"Mad Dog," said the Lowardian team leader, "we need to return as soon as we can. Warhong traveled to the gate and checked in with Pakshok, we have orders to return as soon as we can without putting you or Miss Possible in danger. If you believe that you are safe at this time, we will return immediately. Dr. Drakken and Lady Shego need to make an appearance soon, it appears that your government is nervous about their disappearance."

Ron stroked his beard a little in thought. (He had decided that was one of the coolest parts of having a beard.) "Loki and Thor are out of the picture and I think everyone else likes Kim, so we should be fine while they replace her hand. So, nobody misses us?"

Warlanse had the grace to look a little embarrassed, "Actually, they seem to be only worried about Miss Possible. The few people that actually know who you are assume that you are assisting Miss Possible in returning. It all seems a little strange to me."

Ron chuckled, "I wouldn't worry about that, it's the way it always has been for me, so I'm used to it."

While Ron and the Lowardian team lead were finishing up details, like what to do with the gold, Drakken and Shego stepped over to talk to Kim.

Shego was surprised when the redhead stood up and gave her a hug saying, "Thanks for watching out for Ron and me."

She pried the younger woman loose and replied, "Not a problem, princess, it appears that saving those skinny butts of yours is getting to be a habit."

Kim started to give Drakken a hug but froze. "Dr. Drakken? Is that really you?"

"Yes, Kimberly," the man smiled, "I had a reason to buff up so when the opportunity to do so arrived, I took full advantage of it."

"Paws off my man," Shego teased, stepping over and embracing her lover.

"Thanks, you guys," Kim managed to hug them both and was startled when vines hugged her back.

The Monkey King watched the people in the room depart, they were all going to see Heimdallr with the Lowardians returning to Earth. The Plant Man and his consort along with the two young bodyguards were all going to Nidavellir to talk technology, something about mystical friendship bracelets, with the dwarves and most importantly, the last monkey master and the chosen one would return here. Walking over to the table, he saw that there was plenty of food left over for him to sample, so he sat down to eat and wait.

* * *

Heimdallr greeted the departing Lowardians warmly. The pale god was fond of Lady Kim and that fondness spread by association to these people. He set up the Bifrost to drop them on a part of Slim's ranch where they were sure to be seen arriving. That was to help keep the lake gateway in Nidavellir a secret, from both Earth governments and Asgardians.

Fifteen minutes later, one of Thor's former soldiers reported to Sigyn that all the giant, green Midgardian fighters had returned to Midgard.

 _ **Conversation with Dad**_

"Hi Dad. Long time no see," the half white, half black goddess sneered at the new arrival.

"Hel, my beloved daughter,…" Loki started to reply.

"Cut the crap dad, you stuck me with this place and then I never heard from you again. Mom sends me funny greeting cards with honey cakes every solstice. Even pops in for tea every now and then. I suppose you want me to return you to the land of the living so you can continue being a dick?"

"Well, yes, you see I was…"

"You get the same deal as Balder, Dad," the bad-tempered goddess interrupted. If everyone in the universe weeps for your loss, then you go back. Otherwise, I think that beekeeping is suitable for you. I've reserved a nice cottage for you down by the river. Lots of trees, flowers for the bees, all that crap." Not waiting for a response, she turned him around, pointed him down the road and clapped him on the back, saying, "Why don't you go check the place out? By the way, one of your neighbors is a giant stonemason. I think you and he have something in common, a stallion if I remember correctly."

She then snickered at his distraught expression, "Once you've… uh, mended your fences… with your neighbor, you may want to keep an eye on the river. There's a man who has the ability to change into an otter that's been swimming the river, keeping a close eye on your home for ages now. I think he said something about gathering his family and coming for a visit once your house is occupied. Something about a ransom."

 _ **Monkey Lessons**_

"OK, let me gather up the breakfast dishes to take back to the kitchen," said Ron, "and you can give me a tour of the place."

Ron opened the door to the apartment, took one step in, moved to the left and stopped. he lifted his hand and pulled a short piece of wire from behind his ear. "You were in the room when we fought Thor!, You're Sun Wukong!" Ron growled.

Kim slid in at his side to see what the threat was. The apartment was tidied up, all their dishes were gone and a medium built man was reclining on the couch smiling. A man with a longer beard than Ron's neatly trimmed one, plus his beard covered a lot more of his face. He stood, revealing a long tail.

"Sun Wukong, at your service, honored ones," he bowed deeply, "I am honored and humbled that you have heard of me."

Kim spoke first, "I've heard that Sun Wukong is the demigod possessor of the Mystical Monkey Power, creator of the Lotus Blade, holder of the Compliant Golden-Ringed Rod, is a woman chaser, and has been flirting with the female light elves lately."

Ron added with a growl, "Also the being that imprisoned the researcher Paksairlea in the Jade Statues for hundreds of years and pierced my sister Rhianna's arm with a needle as a message to me."

"True, True," replied the Monkey King, "Well, except the Lotus Blade, actually Sindri made that for me in repayment of some enchantments I taught him and Brokk. I was imprisoned shortly after the Jade Statues were made. I admit that I was wrong to use White Blossom to bind the MMP to the statues. I honestly believe that I would have freed her after a few months had I not been imprisoned. I have been free for a very short time and was afraid that her wrath would prevent me from talking to you. Actually I did see her a few days ago and she kept trying to use the Lotus blade to separate my head from this old body."

"Please, sit. We have much to talk about and not much time," he motioned them to the couch and pulled a chair from the table turning it around and sitting in it backward, "Much more comfortable to sit this way when you have a tail."

"And to be accurate, Master Ronald is now the holder of the Compliant Golden-Ringed Rod. Did Rhi give you the message about the rings?" he cheerfully asked.

"She told me that the rings would solve my 'fertility leper' problem," Ron replied as he warily sat on the couch with Kim sitting next to him.

"May I?" He held out his hand and the wire that Ron was holding expanded into a staff with one end reaching the Monkey King's hand. Gently stroking the staff, the two rings adorning the end slipped off into his palm.

He tossed a ring to each of them. "Put the ring on the other person's left hand, the finger doesn't matter for the magic to work."

Ron reached for Kim's hand. Kim decided that now was not the time to push the relationship sitch and extended her middle finger. Ron quirked an eyebrow but slid the ring on, feeling it quiver as it adjusted to match the size of her finger. Kim took her ring and slid it on Ron's hand, same finger.

"OK, now what?" She asked.

"Now, you cannot get pregnant by Master Ronald. The effect takes place immediately. Rings like these were provided to all the Mystical Monkey Warriors and their mates. Otherwise, the countryside would have been overrun with little Mystical Monkey Children. Take the rings off and the effect wears off in six or seven days."

"Why are you here now?" asked the blonde haired young man, no trace of the goof evident.

"As I said, I have been unable to check up on the Middle Kingdom because I was imprisoned. I am free, for now, and want to make sure I can fix what I can because I may never come back. In exchange for my freedom, I am tasked with escorting a monk named Xuanzang on a long journey to the West. I believe the goal of this journey is not simply to retrieve scrolls but to bring me to a state of enlightenment. I spent the first part of the journey protecting him from attack from demons. I killed a few of them who were trying to kill him. He vehemently objected to this and threatened to send me away if I did not stop. There was this one demon that had spent a month trying to kill Xuanzang to drink his blood in the hope that would make it immortal. I did not kill this demon, but I managed to protect Xuanzang. Still, in the end, he sacrificed his life without the guarantee of personal reincarnation as part of a bargain that would give this dying demon the gift of reincarnation."

"So, this monk died to save a demon?" asked Kim.

"He did it in the hope that his example of love would encourage the demon to choose a path of love and to seek enlightenment when reincarnated as a human. It was a strong lesson and one that I do not fully understand yet."

"If he is dead, how can you escort him?" asked Ron.

"Xuanzang will be fully reincarnated and ready to continue in two days. At that time, I must leave here to join him. Either or both of you are welcome to join us on this journey. It is a once in an eternity chance. Think about it, you don't have to decide this instant."

"Will we be reincarnated?" asked Ron.

"I cannot say. I certainly would not make any decisions that depended on it. Certainly, I am expected to learn from all this but understanding is coming slowly."

"So, we should have set an example and died in peace and forgiveness when the Lowardians were trying to kill us?" Kim was trying to wrap her mind around the concept.

"I am the wrong teacher to ask, Kimberly. You should journey with us to the west so we can learn together. Perhaps the idea is that the small chance of your example changing his heart versus the massive amount of good should you succeed makes the chance worth taking?"

"But enough of talking about me," continued the Monkey King, "we need to work on your access to the MMP. The Jade statues were a bad idea. Binding the power to a human plus an avatar worked very well. Ronald, you have the MMP, but you need an avatar to enable imbuing others with the power. An avatar will also allow you to pass on the MMP to someone else."

"Nope, I'll give up the power all together before I become a part of enslaving some person," declared Ron.

"I was thinking this as the avatar," the grinning Monkey King produced a black plush toy and tossed it to Kim saying, "Ronald's never be normal mindset plus the echoes of White Blossom will let us use this inanimate object instead of a living being."

"It's a Cataconda! The limited edition black one!" Kim nearly squealed in delight, holding up a Cuddle Buddy with a cat head on a snake body. The head was covered in black fake fur except for a white star on its forehead. The body was black fake leather embossed to look like scales.

"So how do we do this? Some big ceremony on a certain phase of the moon?" asked the skeptical Monkey Master.

"That is for people who really don't believe. White Blossom's meditation forest still exists in you. At least it will for a few more weeks until it dissipates from lack of use. Let's take a look and see."

"Uh, I don't have any MMP and if Ron can't give me any then…" Kim started to say.

"My dear child, I am Sun Wukong. I am Mystical Monkey Power. Both of you, take my hand. I have no wish to have Ronald beat me with his rod should we be separated."

He scooted his chair over to where the two teens could reach him and still be seated on the couch. As soon as they touched hands, they found themselves in a familiar forest.

The once lush leaves on plants and trees now looked sickly. Still holding the two teen's hands, he said, "Think of how the Avatar White Blossom loved this jungle. Kala was a good choice for her form, a mother figure to a young boy. Let's keep with that general idea, but change from Burroughs to Kipling. In Burroughs's story leopards and snakes are enemies to Tarzan, but in Kipling's stories, the snake Kaa and the black panther Bagheera are mentors to young Mowgli. I am pleased to introduce you to Kaa and Bagheera."

The Cuddle Buddy tucked under Kim's damaged arm broke into two parts, changing into a black panther and a huge snake. The snake shot off into the trees while the panther head butted Kim affectionately and then trotted off after the snake.

"Let's see if White Blossom's little house is still here. As he took the two teens down the path and around a corner made with a stand of bamboo, they all noticed the jungle become noticeably greener and lusher. Going around the corner, the scene in front of them suddenly changed and there was a small cottage, its door open and inviting. Walking inside, they found Kaa and Bagheera looking at stacks of papers on a long table.

"Monkey-brains, you do realize that neither of us avatars have opposable thumbs to look at papers," the giant snake sighed and hissed.

"Uh, if I can imbue people again, I'm sure we can get Paksairlea and Rhi back in here and they can figure out something different for you two," Ron offered.

"You can do everything you could when Kala was present," said the Monkey King, "this place is important because White Blossom stored all the information contained in the Jade statues that she remembered." As the printer whirred to life, he continued, "I will add some of the missing information." Looking seriously at the two, he told them, "This is the most important part of the MMP, its history, the knowledge of what it is, and how to use it. I recommend you have good people from Yamanouchi come study so they can correct their moldy old scrolls."

"But if I am the last Mystical Monkey Master, what does it matter?" Ron commented.

"There is another. Besides. in these pages are the information on how to pass it on when you can no longer use it yourself. People who are imbued need to know how to use it. I have one warning to you. Do not let people tell you that you are too important to risk. Do not let them hide you safely away and use you only as a battery to charge others. Now go find your meadow and spar or make out or something. I will find you in time to get some food before they come to get you both to put on Kimberly's replacement hand."

Kim and Ron were suddenly back sitting on the couch. Sun Wukong sat in his chair with a ghostly image of Kaa the snake wrapped protectively around him, huge eyes whirling with a soothing blue.

Ron decided that the couch was comfy enough for now. Scooting down so he could lean against the arm, he held out his arms, "How about we see if we can give you a charge?"

Instead of crawling on him and stretching out with him, she folded up her legs, frowning, "I'm not sure it's safe for me to have a boost," memories of the emotional rush of battle, of crushing foes with the Hammer along with memories of the sickening sounds of shields, armor, and bones breaking, both hers and foes clouded her eyes, "I have the Hammer, with the Hammer and the MMP both, I think that I could take out Hego. I'm too dangerous to be around people, but I need you, Ron. Even Freya who's never met you knew that you can fix me."

Ron made a come-here motion with his hands, "Well come here and let me start working on you. First thing you need is a trip to the meditation meadow and we can map out a plan. Trust me. Even if this is a harebrained idea, we have Kaa sitting there who can fetch a demigod to calm you down. Plus, there is nothing in the meadow you can hurt except me. Right Kaa?"

The ghostly image of the snake nodded, its eyes now whirling with soothing green swirls.

Kim thought for a few seconds and finding nothing wrong with the plan, crawled on Ron, cuddling into his arms. He held her tight, careful of her injured arm, and let the MMP flow into her. She closed her eyes, listening to her body. Her body felt a little excitement from being with him again, but mostly her body delighted in the warmth of his love. Some small part of her pointed out that they were given the rings for a reason. Deciding that was good and proper, she relaxed against him and soaked up the offered power.

Kissing her softly to try to distract her, he murmured, "Last one there is a monkey butt…" And the room faded around him.

"Hey, Monkey Butt, you're late," Kim grinned as she spread out a blanket under the tree in her meditation meadow.

"So, Freya says you and I need to have an adventure. Got any ideas? Interested in following that monk in his journey?"

"No, I think that I do want to study some Buddhism. I want a soul with more peace and less killing. Maybe the Shaolin would be the right people to start with. The monk that Sun describes is too intense, like his is the final lesson you learn after a lifetime of learning the little ones," Kim pushed her boyfriend down on his back so she too, could lay on her back with her head on his shoulder and his arm around her. "I mean I would have to study for a lifetime to get where I could have smiled at Warhok and told him that I forgave him as he killed me."

"I'm with you there, KP. I have a proposal."

"Let's hear it."

"From now on, we stick together. If you go back to China to study with the Shaolin, I go to China. If I go to Japan to do MMP studies, you come with me. If you go to this Parajumper pipeline thing, I tag along and at least get an apartment in town. I was thinking of studying physical therapy and human bodies are pretty much the same everywhere, right?"

"How do we support ourselves?"

"KP, Jess negotiated a weregild that was paid with two hundred little bars of gold. The Lowardians, Drakken and Shego wanted one each for a souvenir. Jess and Carlynn figured that three each would more that repay them if this little adventure messed up their school year and they lose a scholarship or have to do an extra semester. The price of gold is up because the Lowardians are here and people are crazy. I propose that we give the bulk to Dad to invest conservatively. It's only like, two and a half million, so it won't last forever. But it should last long enough for our education adventure. Especially if we do the poor college student lifestyle and take the occasional job. Maybe make Global Justice pay us minimum wage and expenses for saving the world."

"I want to shut down saving the world, Ron. I am really afraid that that I will lose it and kill everyone in the lair the next time we stop some maniac from even threatening mass murder."

"Works for me, we can stick to search and rescue ops. Like finding lost kittens and such."

Kim laughed, "That's the new Team Possible."

"One more thing," Ron had his 'serious face' on, "we both need serious therapy, starting immediately."

"Ronnie…"

"KP, you woke up crying twice last night. I ripped out Loki's heart, spiked it into the ground and did a little dance." Ron couldn't meet her eyes.

"Ron, hey," Kim rolled over so she could see his eyes, "your personality knob was set to 'Zorpox', you just need to not do that anymore."

"I overrode Zorpox, KP…That was me. Even Zorpox thought that I was over the top."

Kim thought for a moment and then replied, "OK. We go with your plan. Together forever and therapy. I have two requests for your consideration."

"Really? You like the plan?"

"Yes. Really. I just want two additions. First, Freya said that I need to get together with you and you need to lay me like tile."

"A-Booyah, KP, this Freya seems like a wise woman to me! Uh, that does refer to sex and not kitchen remodeling, right?"

"Yes, lover, she was referring to sex."

"Then Booyah! And the second addition?"

"I want us to move these rings over a finger."

"OK"

"OK? Just OK?" Kim might have growled a little.

"Well, that would be the icing on the together forever cake," realizing that he might have screwed up by not being enthusiastic enough, he gathered her into his arms and kissed her. Once they broke for air, he whispered, "KP, I have regretted not saying 'Yes' back in the tree house for months. Think a Monkey King can marry us?"

"No, he's not a priest, not even a monk."

"Lots of gods and goddesses around here…:

"No, I'm not sure if these people actually have weddings."

"I know a spaceship captain…"

"Nope, I want a marriage that is legal on Earth."

"BHS arbitrator?"

"Ron!" Kim silenced the goof by covering his lips with hers. The kissing and cuddling continued until the two fell asleep. It had been, after all, a tough couple of days.

Back in the apartment the ghostly Kaa looked with swirling red eyes at the door to the hallway as it slowly and quietly opened. Five men with spears stood outside the door. Finding that the door was not bolted or locked, they pushed it open, spears at the ready, Sigyn had told them that their first strike must be quick and fatal, otherwise, they were doomed. Spears raised, ready to throw, the men stepped through the door, spreading out to give each other room to throw.

But instead of an apartment, they were standing in a lush jungle. A giant hissing snake with swirling red eyes and dripping fangs like long daggers was coiled ready to strike next to a snarling black leopard ready to pounce. As one, the five men dropped their spears, turning to flee back through the door before it could close and trap them in this green world of the damned forever.

The ghostly snake stretched out and closed the door. It returned to its guard position over the bearded man and the two sleeping teens.

* * *

The sun went down and the apartment grew dark. The Monkey King stood and stretched. His ghostly guardian faded from view as he walked around the room lighting lamps. Walking by the door, he noticed spears on the floor. 'How strange…' he thought. Picking them up, he leaned all but one in the corner. The last one he twirled experimentally and stroking it, shrank it to the size of a toothpick. Placing it behind his ear, he walked over to the sleeping couple. "Time to get up!" he announced.

"Too comfortable…" murmured a feminine voice.

"Five more minutes, Crystal…" mumbled the other sleepy voice.

"Crystal! Crystal Stamas?!" green eyes were flashing.

"Uh yeah, KP, she is part of the running class in the morning, she drops by to join the others. Since she isn't part of the sorority, she can stop by and wake me up before she has juice with the others…" Ron's brain finally kicked into gear, "Yeah, I guess we need to close that loophole in the rules that says no NOPE girl can come alone into my lair…"

"Your lair? You have a lair? And just what goes on in the lair of yours, mister?"

The Monkey King took pity on the next to last Mystical Monkey Master, helping Kim get up off of the target of her growing anger and said, "I just saw the Bifrost move to Nidavellir, I'd wager that someone will be here in twenty minutes to get Kim to take her to get her new hand. Perhaps we should go find some tea, cheese and bread to eat before they get here?"


	15. Repair Her Body

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable inspiration and encouragement. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

I received a valid comment was that it was hard to remember the last chapter when the time between chapters is so long. Certainly, Pokemon Go and Diablo III have affected my writing speed, but those distractions are less now. In addition, I will try posting smaller chapters. Frankly, I think I was getting carried away and making each posting too long. I intend to try to post more regularly, with smaller chapters. Maybe I can do it.

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also), and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 **Errata**

In the last chapter, when Kaa was speaking to the Monkey King he really pointed out that neither he nor the panther had opposable thumbs. I apologize for misquoting him. The actual quote was:

"Monkey-brains, you do realize that neither of us avatars have opposable thumbs to look at papers," the giant snake sighed and hissed.

—-

 _ **Replacement Part**_

"Run the threads for the rune over and under the weave like this, child," Freya's hands guided Inkeri's nimble fingers as they embedded a rune into the fabric of what looked like a black burlap glove.

"I see," the elf weaver said, "that will cause the hand to join to her arm without a seam. There will be a gradual change in skin color from the new hand to the arm over an area about four fingers wide."

"Brokk!" Freya raised her voice to the dwarven smith carefully laying out rods and wires into small bundles on a table near the forge. "Are you sure that you can't make the hand match her skin color?"

"No ma'am," was the reply, "if we left out the vibranium, we could get close, but it would still be a noticeable difference in shade."

"Tell me again why you are insisting on using metals used to make weapons for champions to make a hand for a woman who intends to hang up her Hammer and live in peace?"

The dark dwarf snorted in amusement, quoting, "But they shall sit under her vine and under her fig tree and none shall make them afraid." Smiling, he said, "Ma'am, that person is the first one you give an adamantium sword and vibranium shield."

Inkeri, wanting to change the subject, asked, "What is happening with Sif and Thora?"

Freya looked pained, "Sif is considering taking the girl to Midgard to live where she will have others her own age to interact with. I thought that assigning Kjrr as her bodyguard was a good idea, but he appears to be filling her head with ideas of becoming a goddess of justice and a defender of the realms. He does seem to be taking the job very seriously, he was asking about what kinds of dolls and little girl things she should have."

Inkeri smiled, "I remember a young son of yours many years ago who wanted to be a champion of the gods. Speaking of sons, are you considering having another of your own? If you like the blond look, Kim's mate could be a consideration…"

"A baby does have its appeal, but I see that any children from him will have dark hair and less than fair skin."

"Sort of a Loki replacement, then?"

Freya pondered for a long moment, "I think one Loki was enough," she finally admitted.

Sindri came over and inspected their work, "Well, it appears that everything is ready. Inkeri, why don't you and Freya go and fetch Bjort and our patient."

"I fear that I have other duties that I must attend to," said Freya, "I will leave Lady Kim in your capable hands."

As soon as the pair had left, Jessica, Carlynn, and Drakken came over to show Brokk their work.

"These are very nice! Midgard must be full of talented weavers," Brokk held up two pairs of friendship bracelets, each pair was a different pattern and was woven with iridescent strings of different colors. Drakken had woven tiny electronic parts into his pair.

"Dr. Drew, you want these made into physical bracelets, correct?"

"Uh, Yes," said Drakken, then raising his voice, "Angel, you want bracelets and not tattoos, correct?"

"Damn straight lover," was the reply from behind a magazine, "Nobody hammers on this body except you."

Brokk took the first pair over to Sindri for forging while Drakken blushed and the two girls snickered in amusement. Even with the short time they had spent with the ex-supervillains, Drakken was becoming a standard for how even as an adult, a man should adore his woman.

After a modicum of hammering with the associated showers of sparks, Brokk brought them back and gave them to Drakken. Like a kid with a new toy, he ran over to Shego, slipped one on her wrist and showed her the features he had designed. Like the part of the bracelet that was closest to his would glow softly. "See?" he gloated in triumph, "Now we can always find each other!"

"OK, who's first?" asked Brokk.

"Uh, I am," replied Jessica who had lost the coin toss. "This won't hurt will it?"

"Don't think so," grinned the dwarf, "Shouldn't hurt, but I've never been hammered on, so I'm guessing." Before the girl could reconsider, she was picked up and put on the edge of a table dragged close to the anvil. Her right leg was pulled over so that her ankle was placed in a black iron block with a cutout for her lower leg to fit into. "This is the correct ankle?" asked Sindri, heating a curved metal tool.

"Yes, that's the one," Jessica squeaked nervously.

"Lay back and relax, this is to prevent sparks from getting on your skin and making freckles," Brokk covered her with a leather blanket.

Jess felt Carlynn's hand find hers so she held it tightly and waited for the pain. Which never came. First, it felt like Sindri was furiously pounding the anvil next to her leg, then she felt a toasty warm band wrap around her ankle and the loud hammering started up again. Each blow of the hammer felt like a tap on the band. Her skin began to itch and burn until a strong hand took her lower leg and dipped it in a cold liquid which stopped the itching and burning.

Brokk pulled off the blanket and Jess sat up. Sindri handed her a towel to wipe off the oil with. Checking out her ankle, she was pleased with the result, the bracelet looked like a delicate, lacy, tribal patterned tattoo done with an iridescent ink that sparkled and shone in the workshop light. "It's beautiful! Thank you so very much!" she exclaimed.

"My turn!" declared Carlynn hopping up on the table asking, "One spark, one freckle?"

"Not always, but maybe half the time," answered Brokk.

Carlynn peeled off her shirt and removed her bra, "Jess, cover me all up after the first spray of sparks, OK?"

"OK," her NOPE sister was amused.

Carlynn adjusted the blanket so her chest was exposed saying, "I'm ready."

"Kim, honest, there is nothing remotely close to fooling around happening in my room. If I have a nightmare, Bishop will warn a couple of them to run down and poke me with pool noodles to wake me up. Crystal pokes me with one if I seem slow to wake up for the morning run. Ask Bishop, he's the same A.I. software that Dr. Slim has running his ranch," Ron's voice was heard as he walked into the workshop with Kim, Bjort, and Inkeri.

"Close those eyes, caveman," came a shout from under the blanket.

"What are you guys doing and why is she laying there with just her breasts uncovered?" asked Kim. When they walked in, she had figured that she had let Ron twist in the wind long enough, after all, once she had time to think about it, she remembered that she did trust him completely. But before she could tell him that, she arrives at the workshop to find… What? Dwarven forge porn?

"A spark landing on your skin can make a freckle appear. I guess she wanted a few on her chest?" answered Jessica in response to Kim's question.

After the first spray of sparks danced across the table and young woman, Jessica fixed the blanket so that her sister was totally covered.

Kim watching Carlynn's friendship bracelet being hammered onto her ankle made her feel better. It was amazing to watch, to her eye the force of his blows should have crushed her ankle and dented the massive anvil.

Soon the forging was done and the latest bearer of a bracelet tattoo grabbed and clutched her shirt to her chest as she ran into the bathroom to find a mirror.

* * *

Inkeri, Drakken, Shego, and Ron's NOPE sisters sat at the table well away from the heat and noise of the forge, waiting and watching. Well, some of them were watching, Jessica and Carlynn were discussing "freckles".

"Freckles my butt, those look like leopard spots," laughed Jessica, looking at the large brownish spots peeking above her NOPE sister's neckline on her shirt. They did resemble leopard spots, just not nearly as densely packed together.

"I kind of like them," declared Carlynn, "of course, I'm glad that they're where I can cover them with clothing. Think I should ask to have my stomach freckled to match?"

Kim and Ron stood nervously next to Sindri's anvil. Bjort handed Kim a cup of tea, "Drink this, it will relax you and make it easier for Sindri to attach the hand."

Kim sniffed the tea suspiciously and took a sip. Finding that it tasted OK, she took another.

Ron asked, "Wouldn't it be better for a healer to attach her new hand?"

"Sindri can do it faster than Eir, and in this case because of the shattered bone in what remains of her forearm, he can do a better job," replied the healer.

Kim handed an empty cup back to Bjort who refilled it from a flask and handed it back.

"Aye, we'll infuse the cracks with metal, sort of like how craftsmen can repair fine porcelain with gold," Brokk added, carrying what looked like a black elbow-length glove with runes woven into its coarse weave.

"You are mending Kim's bones with gold?" Ron watched Kim's eyes become dilated just before she closed them. She wasn't asleep, she was still sipping tea.

Sindri walked up carrying wires of various colors. Handing the wires to Bjort and taking the glove from Brokk, he commented, "We will be using something stronger than gold. We'll try some adamantium and vibranium to see how well they fuse together the cracks in her bones. Maybe some uru, although we don't have a lot of that laying around."

"Are you ready?" he asked Kim.

"Yes," she replied with a little slur in her voice. "Ready for my new hand, please and thank you." Screwing up her face in concentration, she added, "You know, saying 'please and thank you' might be a little arrogant. I mean, shouldn't one wait for the request to be answered before you thank someone?" Kim was feeling mentally disconnected from reality. She hadn't really gone long enough without a right hand for it to sink in that it was really gone. Now, here she was to get a new one installed. Truly, no big. She thought she should care more, but that was probably the tea talking. Or was the tea answering?

"Shouldn't it be thicker?" Ron asked, "And the texture seems a little coarse, doesn't it? Wait, what do you mean you will try, haven't you done this before?"

"It will change shape and texture once I put the hammer to it. And no, I haven't done this before. Although I wish I had been given the opportunity to hammer Loki's parts in place." Sighing at lost opportunities, he continued, "Here, allow me, my friend." The huge smith scooped up Kim and before a worrying Ron could object, he placed her gently down on a table scooted over close to his anvil.

Stepping around the table he pulled her arm over to the anvil to make sure she was close enough then moved her arm back and picked up the glove in a pair of long iron tongs.

"Wait!" cried Ron, "Doesn't she need to be unconscious for this? Won't it hurt?"

Sindri looked offended, "Young master, I need to ask her to move her fingers to check my work. I will only hurt her if I miss and I haven't missed in a millennium. I didn't miss with your sisters and they tended to flinch."

Brokk covered Kim with a leather blanket, "This will prevent sparks from causing freckles from appearing on her skin. Ron, stand on this side and hold her hand, it will make you feel better. Sindri, didn't you miss that one time when you were making Mjöllnir?"

"Work the bellows," the smith snapped, "That was only because Loki interfered with my forging." Glaring theatrically at Ron, he added, "No one is going to bother me while I work this time."

"Actually, I am the one that will cause Friend Kim pain," Bjort walked over holding a set of sharp looking tools and a bundle of fine metal wires. "I need to thread these into the cracks in her radius and ulna. I will be as gentle as I can be." Looking directly at Ron, she said, "Stand on the other side and hold her hand."

Ron was totally, one hundred percent not in control and he knew it. He was surrounded by mystical and supernatural beings that said they were going to take care of his love and he was trusting that they, in their own way, loved her too. Brokk was furiously pumping the bellows, Ron could feel the searing heat on his face from where he stood.

Using long-handled tongs, Sindri held the new hand in the white heat until it too was glowing white. Pulling it over to his anvil, he struck great blows on it, generating a shower of sparks with each strike. With sweat glistening on his face and heavily muscled arms, he held it up and looking satisfied, placed it back in the fire to heat up again. Now instead of looking flat, it was starting to look like a hand was in the glove.

Bjort had taken off the bandages from Kim's arm and was selecting one of her tools.

"Ron?" Kim's quiet voice came out from under the heavy blanket. Picking up the blanket, he peeked under, seeing a pale face with dilated eyes. Bending down, he placed his head under the blanket. A small amount of light infiltrated from under the edge of the blanket showing the glassy-eyed look of his love.

"How ya doing KP?" he asked.

Kim suddenly gripped his hand like a vice, stiffened and swore. What she said encompassed biologic, religious, and sociological concepts creatively and effectively spun into a stream of invective that shattered the boundary of an 'M' rated fanfic; not to mention would have her found guilty of blasphemy in several conservative societies - assuming the judges weren't struck dead with a stroke immediately on hearing her words.

"Sorry!" came a muffled feminine voice from outside the blanket. "One down, seven more to go and then this part is done." Then more quietly the voice was heard to say, "It appears that Friend Kim has picked up some interesting speech patterns from Freya's sergeants."

Ron pulled his head out from under the blanket and immediately wished he hadn't. Bjort had Kim's skin and muscles peeled back and the bones in her forearm exposed.

"Get back under there and support your mate, please," the healer calmly ordered.

Ron poked his head back under the blanket and looked at his reason for, well, pretty much everything. Her eyes were still quite dilated and her face was covered in sweat.

"Let me get a towel, I'll be right back," he started to move away only for her to clamp down on his hand again.

"Please don't leave me," she whispered.

Ron managed to pull his tee shirt off one-handed and used it to mop the sweat off her face.

"I wonder if childbirth hurts this much," she mumbled, "Must be the tea, it hurts like crazy, but I just don't care."

Ron started to say something, but again, she clamped down on his hand and her body stiffened. This time instead of swearing, she stifled a scream.

"KP, I'm here," Ron said, feeling totally inadequate.

"Hang in there!" came the muffled feminine voice. "Two down, six more to go and then this part is done."

"So, KP, when we get back home, what's the first thing you want to eat? Bueno Nacho?"

She replied between short pants of breath, "Nah, I was thinking of that… new middle eastern place… where they serve broccoli skewers… with spinach that's been… boiled for hours in… a curry sauce as… a side dish."

She was teasing him! Here she was undergoing incredible bouts of pain, all he could do was hold her hand yet she was trying to keep his spirits up! 'These people are totally stupid not to grab her to be a goddess,' he thought.

—

"That was the last one," came the muffled voice, "Sindri will now start on attaching the hand, this is the easy part, trust me."

Kim was whimpering after the last wire was threaded into the last crack, Ron feeling totally useless to protect her from the pain.

Her arm was pulled over to the anvil and there was a sizzling sound like bacon on a hot skillet that terrified Ron. But Kim's face actually relaxed.

"KP?" he asked.

"It feels nice, like sliding under a warm electric blanket on a cold day," she murmured.

The hammer blows rang out, hitting so hard that Ron could feel their shock transmitted through the floor, but Kim's body was placid and relaxed. In fact, Ron had to wake her up when Sindri needed her to make a fist, touch her thumb to each finger, and other tests while he put the finishing touches on her hand.

Finally, the hammering ceased and Ron felt Kim being pulled over to the edge so Sindri could dip her hand in the bucket of oil to cool it.

As Inkeri and his NOPE sisters helped a wobbly Kim to the bathroom to clean off sweat and oil, Ron asked, "So now what? Is there anything that we need to do for her tonight? Any drugs or teas that she needs to take?"

"No, she should be good to go. If she breaks out in a fever get her back here immediately. When you have Heimdallr set up the Bifrost tell him to have me or Eir meet you here. There is a very small chance that her body will reject either one of the metals or the magic in the hand. If that is going to happen, it will happen in the next few hours," said Bjort.

"Her hand is magic?" Ron was wondering just how big of an idiot he was not to have asked these questions before now. He mentally kicked himself for that "Crystal" remark he had sleepily blurted out. If he hadn't been concentrating on appeasing an upset girlfriend, he might have thought to ask the healer questions. Maybe if Kim hadn't been mad at him, she would have thought to ask.

"Yes, that is how it moves and connects to her nervous system," Bjort continued, "We had enough uru available to hold the enchantments needed to make it work like a real hand. In fact, watch the boundary between her artificial skin and real skin. If she is relaxed and happy, the boundary will very slowly move away from her body towards her fingers. It is possible that over time, the artificial material will be replaced by her own body's tissue."

"Come back tomorrow night, we will check everything out and make sure all is well," said Sindri.

 _ **I'll Show You Mine If...**_

The next morning, Shego walked into the bedroom the 'girls' had been sharing to find Kim standing in front of a full-length mirror wearing only a pair of boy shorts. She was staring into the mirror and her eyes were bright from the beginning of tears.

"Princess? What's the matter?" She was wondering if the drugs in the tea Kim drank last night were having a rebound effect.

"I'm hideous!" the distraught redhead softly wailed, "How can Ron stand to look at me? To touch me?"

"The hand isn't that bad, it's just the color that is odd," Shego thought the hand looked normal and it felt almost natural, it was its matte dark gray coloring that gave away its artificiality.

"What about the scars?" Kim waved her artificial hand over her face and body. She had scars, Eir and the other Valkyrie healers were skilled in repairing broken bodies, but their society thought nothing of scars. In fact, depending on how you got them, people considered them either badges of honor or marks of bold stupidity. She had a large scar running from below her belly button to just under her sternum where Eir opened her up to reassemble organs shattered in a fight with a champion of giants. There was another running from just above her waist up over her ribs where Eir had opened her up to repair damage from the beating she took from Loki. There were smaller scars from axe and sword cuts scattered over her legs, arms and torso plus one faint scar on her left cheek from some fight that she didn't even remember.

"Ron's going to dump me and marry someone worth the gold," the redhead mumbled.

"Gold? What are you talking about?"

"The weregild. Carlynn said that it was for something called 'consortium', that it was to reimburse Ron for his expenses in hiring prostitutes while I was gone," the nearly naked girl said miserably, "Does this look like a body that is worth its weight in gold to you?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. First, You know damn well that Ron hasn't been hiring prostitutes. Second, Carlynn is confused. Jessica was putting together the terms of the duel. She came up with the idea that you were worth your weight in gold to Ron and guessed that two thousand ounces was close enough to your weight and a nice round number," Shego toed off her shoes, pulled off her top then loosened her belt, "Consortium is about being denied a partner's companionship, love, and support, not necessarily just about sex." Sliding out of her jeans, she pointed out a scar running up her left thigh, "The first encounter with Warmonga," pointing to a scar on her right side running down on her hip, "exploding weather machine," a wide mark on her shoulder running down over her left breast, "RF burn from a death ray energy coil,"…

* * *

Ron sat at the table in the apartment's living room talking to his NOPE sisters and Drakken. The Lowardians had left back for Earth yesterday in order to make a flashy semi-public show of returning to Earth via the Bifrost straight to Slim's ranch. Drakken, Shego, and his NOPE sisters would return to the ranch this morning with Heimdallr carefully controlling the Bifrost to make a stealthy return. Once at the ranch, they would use the stealth hoverjet to drop the girls off at the NOPE house and continue to Florida. Sindri wanted to make one last check of Kim's hand tonight and they would return tomorrow morning.

* * *

"Drew looks at this," the dark-haired woman waved her hand over her body, "scars and all like I am his personal Angel from Heaven come for his salvation," Shego said after cataloging the 'defects' on her skin. She continued, "Ron looks at you the same way. Zorpox, not so much, I'd keep the boy in 'Mad Dog' mode if I were you. I saw Ron without his shirt in the duel and he has old scars scattered around. Do you find him ugly because of the marks on his skin?"

"No! Of course not! But he got those marks trying to help and protect me on missions!" Kim retorted.

"Then he should have done a better job back then, 'cause a lot of the scars I'm seeing are old," the older woman continued.

Seeing the younger woman was about to deny it, she stepped to the door, opened it a crack and called out, "Girls? Can you join us for a sec?"

To Kim's dismay, two more people came in the room. Not that she was a prude, but right now her scars and artificial hand embarrassed her more than her near-nudity.

Jessica and Carolynn came in and shut the door behind them. "Uh, I don't really swing this way normally, but…" Carlynn smirked.

"Which one of you is the Princess's cheerleader teammate?" interrupted Shego.

"I am, why?" answered Jessica.

"Tell me which of the scars on her body are old," demanded Shego.

"OK…" Jessica looked at Kim, now standing straight and looking annoyed. Walking around her captain, she continued, "Damn K, what the hell have you been up to? This thin scar on her thigh is old along with this one on her lower back. The one on her ankle used to be more obvious. She used to have a mark on her neck she covered with a choker, but that appears to have healed…"

Seeing the glare from the redhead, she replied, "What!? We were worried about you, K. Sometimes after practice and a shower, you'd be moving like you hurt in places and we'd see you putting on concealer to hide the scars and sometimes bruises. Junior year, Tara was talking to police detectives because she was afraid that you were being abused by Ron and the mission stories were just a cover-up."

"That was never a problem, Ron would never do anything like that, he respects the 'fairer sex' sometimes wayyyy too much," the redhead dropped her eyes to the floor and softly added, "The festival where I assaulted him should have proven that."

"That wasn't your fault, Princess," growled Shego, "you were under the control of the moodulator.

Jessica pressed on, "Although you have a number of new scars as well as an attachment, I think my little brother out there wouldn't trade you for anything K. Just don't let him get away and make him put a ring on it. He's deep assed in love with you and only you… well, maybe his sister Hana too."

"Little brother?" asked Kim.

"Long story, but the short version is that I am his sister in the sorority and my birthday is before his, so I am his 'big sister'."

* * *

Several minutes passed and Drakken finished the last of the pseudo peanut butter stickies that he had made for breakfast dessert. "I wonder what is keeping them?"

"I'll remind them about the time," said Ron popping up and going to the bedroom.

"While you're doing that, I'll go make sure Shego and I have all our stuff packed," Drakken said getting up and going to the bedroom that they had been using.

There was a tap on the door and a voice asked, "Shego, KP, almost time to go to the Bifrost…"

Shego smirked, "Come on in, sport!"

Ron opened the door and true to his training as a Team Possible member and Yamanouchi student, scanned the room. Only four people visible:

\- Jessica - puzzled, check  
\- KP - annoyed, naked, check  
\- Carlynn - amused, check  
\- Shego - smirking, naked, check

With no threats spotted, the young man's focus returned to his KP. A KP that was rested, a KP that was even more devastatingly beautiful than yesterday. A KP that for some reason had a lot of beauty on display. A lot of physical beauty. Exposed physical beauty.

"Uh, KP, you're not, uh, dressed." he stammered.

On the other side of the room, Shego did an exaggerated pirouette and Ron didn't move his focus for even one millisecond, proving Jessica's earlier point.

All the women in the room except Kim laughed. But she smiled. A little.

"What?" Ron asked, his brain starting to reboot at last.

"Shego, I have our…" Drakken appeared at the door and his attention was trapped by the black hole of his angel's beauty.

"Drew," his dark-haired angel asked, "Is this beat-up body worth its weight in gold?"

"No, don't be silly. Gold is too cheap. I'd say Californium 252." was the dazed answer.

"What about Kimberly's body?"

"Who?"

Shego sauntered over to her plant-man and wrapped around him like a shameless snake, "Good answer, Drew."

Pulling loose from his shameless snake, the disheveled scientist muttered, "Shego! The children!"

"They will have to get their own mad scientist," she said, stepping back and gesturing to the door, "OK, people, the show's over! We'll be right out," Shego pushed everyone except Kim out into the main room and closed the door.

Drakken walked unsteadily over to the table. Taking a drink of cold water, he said to the two bewildered girls, "I think that Kimberly has body image issues. Not sure that helped though."

Ron also got a drink of water, but they couldn't make sense of what he mumbled. His sisters were amused at how glassy-eyed he looked.

Shego turned back to find Kim pulling on clothes and griping, "I didn't need to be displayed like a piece of meat!"

"Oh, Drew didn't do more than take a quick glance at you. Remember the song that goes 'I only have eyes for you'? That's Drew for me. And that's Ron for you." When her former foe merely growled in response, she continued, "Look, Drew isn't the best judge of feminine beauty and it was stupid to let either one in here, I'm sorry."

Shego slipped on her jeans. "The important part is that Ron loves you, doesn't care about the scars. You know who else doesn't care about the scars? The giants whose butt you kicked. When you get back home and get dragged into the hero business again, do you think that the parents of a child that was lost and you found will care that your skin isn't perfect?" Shego pulled on her top and repeated, "Well, don't you think your body will do what you need it to do in the future?"

"I suppose so," admitted Kim.

"Listen, if it gets you down, call me and talk. I'm not the best for girl talk, but at least we can talk about any new scars or something, maybe get together for sparring, OK?"

"This," said Kim pointing to the scar on her stomach, "commemorates when I killed two giant champions and who knows how many giant fighters both personally and by the actions of my men." Pointing to the scar on her side, she continued, "This was the result of me ripping Loki's genitals off and that ended with Ron killing him. I don't want more scars, not like these, Shego. It's not the blemishes on my skin that makes my body ugly, it is what I did to get them that makes my soul ugly. Now, I think you guys have a rainbow to catch?"

Shego walked over and wrapped her former foe in a hug, whispering, "Kimmy, those scars are unfortunate reminders of things that you would try to do differently now… You are not ugly. Just older and maybe wiser. Older anyway," the dark-haired woman smirked and continued, "Remember, the giants came looking for a fight and Loki started it by assaulting you, you weren't looking for something to kill."

Releasing her, Shego said, "Got a hairbrush? Never mind the scars, your bedhead is scary…"

Helping Kim with her hair, Shego remembered something odd in Kim's comment from earlier, "Say, did you mention something about you two getting married? That gold band seems to be on the wrong finger…"

—

"Lady Kim!" boomed the pale guardian of the rainbow bridge that connects Asgard to the other realms, "How are you? You look well!"

She replied by giving him a massive hug, "Is the Bifrost set up to slip my friends back home to Midgard unnoticed?"

"Yes, they will be dropped into the yard behind your uncle's main house. It is the middle of the night there and no one is close enough to worry about landing on top of anyone," the pale god grinned. "They will be dropped as soft as a mother's kiss to a babe."

Shego, standing with Drakken's arm around her, said, "Catch you later Princess, Sport."

Kim pulled out an envelope, handing it to Shego. "Please give this to my mom."

Shego looked like it was a snake. "Is this a will or something?"

"No!" Kim replied, "it's just some notes and little gifts for my family. It just seems like every time I try to go home, something pops up. Humor me?" The Puppy Dog Pout threatened to appear.

"OK, OK, I'll deliver it, you can put the face away."

"Thanks, you guys," Kim managed to hug them both and this time was not startled when vines hugged her back.

—

A fighter bowed before Sigyn, "My lady, the plant-man, and fire-witch plus the two women fighters have left. Only the Monkey King remains as a defender to Lady Kim and her mate. The rumor is that the Monkey King leaves tonight and that Sif and Freya have already left to look for a place to take Thora to live."

"Thank you, Gunnolf, Heimdallr has let slip that they are going to depart for Midgard late tomorrow morning when the Bifrost will be most visible on Midgard. Tell the men to be ready. They must not arrive on Midgard alive.


	16. Going Home Come Hel or High Water

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and valuable inspiration and encouragement. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also), and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

I read recently that Pixar movies are never finished, just released, and this chapter was that way.

 _ **Last Night in Asgard**_

Heimdallr checked on the little pocket boats rolling down the Bifrost every few minutes until his gaze was distracted by a commotion going on in the court of the new King Utgarda-Ralph in the court of the Jotunheim.

After a few minutes, he realized it was a celebration for the new king and not a call to war against Asgard. Turning his gaze back to Midgard, he saw the plant man's airboat turn transparent and take to the skies. Satisfied that his charges arrived safely, he turned to his standard list of places in the realms to keep watch on.

"How goes everything, Watcher?" Sigyn walked up to Heimdallr.

"Very well my Lady, all is as expected," was the reply.

"Are Kim and her people enjoying their visit?" Sigyn's voice was polite and caring.

"Only Kim and Ron remain. The rest have all returned to Midgard. Kim and her mate will return in the late morning tomorrow after the dwarves check her hand one last time tonight." answered the pale Watcher.

"Have you seen Sun Wukong?"

"I believe that he is going with Kim to Nidavellir tonight then say goodbye to some light elvish women and leave directly from there early tomorrow morning. Did you want to see him, my Lady?"

"I had thought perhaps he could scratch an itch for me, but I see that his remaining time is promised elsewhere. Good day, Lord Heimdallr," Sigyn said, walking away.

"Good Day, Lady Sigyn," said a puzzled watcher.

'Some deception is in play', he thought to himself. He had a very faint ringing in his ears, which often indicated that events were being guided. But by who? Odin? Freya? And what was his role in the deception? The ringing in his ears faded to silence. What if the deception involved the information that he told Sigyn? He had told her the truth, she would have instantly detected a lie, he just wasn't skilled at lying and being Loki's wife, Sigyn was expert at knowing a lie when she heard it.

Mentally reviewing the morning's events, he had a suspicion of what Sigyn was not supposed to hear from him. Focusing his vision on the Bifrost itself, his sharp eyes picked out two figures walking back in the mists, nearly invisible in their gray body armor.

* * *

"Lady Kim!" the senior healer cheerfully called out from behind the pair as they headed from the dining hall on the way back to their apartment for a quiet lunch.

"Hello, Eir," replied Kim, "good to see you."

"Are you headed to your apartment? I'll tag along if you don't mind. I want to see how you are healing."

Chatting about random gossip until they reached the apartment, they had no sooner sat their lunch on the table when Eir pulled her patient into the bedroom and onto the bed, stripping her to the waist as they went. Cool fingers carefully probed along the scar lines on the redhead's torso. Loosening Kim's belt then looking into her eyes, she pressed firmly on her lower abdomen. Seeing a wince, she called out, "Hey, mate, come here a moment."

The 'mate' wandered over, "My name's Ron," he pointed out.

"Whatever, see these two spots where I'm pressing?"

"Yes"

"No physical relations until you can press here without hurting her. I used spider webbing to hold bits of a shattered organ or two in place. The organs are all healed and this is the only part of the webbing that hasn't dissolved yet," fixing him with a steely, no-nonsense gaze, she continued, "NO PHYSICAL RELATIONS UNTIL YOU CAN PRESS HERE WITHOUT PAIN. Got it?"

"Check, keep it in my pants until I can press there without causing her pain," he replied, going for his most goofy, disarming grin.

Rolling her eyes, the healer continued, "Be observant, because she will lie." Straightening up, she handed a small bottle to Ron, "Use this the first several times and then as needed. Well, I have places to be, so if I don't see you before you depart, fare well, my friend" hugging Kim and then with a nod to Ron, she left.

Both teens watched the Valkyrie walk out, closing the door behind her.

"Dominoes?" suggested Ron sliding the bottle in his pocket.

"What?"

"To pass the time until we can do the 'physical relation' thing."

"I'm not sure that I've seen a set anywhere," she pointed out, reaching up for him.

"Pity," he replied pressing her flat onto the bed, then letting his lips wander over her naked torso, "Whatever will we do to pass the time?" he pondered as she laughed and ran her fingers through his hair.

"I recommend that we eat lunch and then drill a bit," called a cheerful voice from the main room.

With a disappointed groan, Ron stood up and turned to see the Monkey King unpacking cartons out of a bag.

"I thought some Los Angeles style Chinese food would be in order as I certainly won't find this where I am going." he looked up and said, "Kimberly, except for the General Tao's chicken, the dishes are meatless," as she came in tucking her shirt into her jeans.

"Drill number one: Chopsticks," he declared, handing a pair to both teens.

Lunch was a leisurely affair. The Monkey King was an entertaining storyteller and some of the stories that he told the two might have even been based on true events. He was also a good listener and managed to get the others telling him tales of high school and missions.

Which was good, because Kim was initially having problems with fine motor control using her dwarven forged fingers and the conversation kept her mind off her frustration. But after their hour-and-a-half-long lunch, she was doing pretty well, even managed to get enough to eat.

After clearing away the debris, Ron went to take the trash away while Sun started Kim's drills.

"Kimberly, call the Hammer, please," he instructed.

"I'd rather not," she replied, "it affects my mind, makes me more aggressive."

"You studied a little with an úlfheðnar on how to control the MMP, correct?"

"Yes, but that was different, the MMP had an avatar that I could visualize as a small kitten. That helped me remain calm and not be consumed by mystical monkey rage."

"OK, you can do that, look at your left arm and call the Hammer."

Kim looked at her left arm and saw a miniature version of a Cataconda wrapped around her wrist. A Kittieconda perhaps? Its eyes slowly blinked and she heard a soft "We will help you," whisper in her head. She held out her right hand and thought, "Come to me, I need you." She thought she heard banging, some breaking glass, and swearing far off and a moment later Mjöllnir, Hammer of Justice slapped into her right hand. Energy flowed through the Dwarven-made hand and into her body, her musculature bulking up and armor forming around her. But she felt the same mentally, no increase in aggression as far as she could tell.

"Oh. My. Goddess." Ron stood in the doorway. "Wow! That was amazing KP!"

"It's from the Hammer, Ron. Didn't you feel any different when you held it?"

"Don't think so, 'course I was kinda mad at the time and not paying attention," he walked around checking out the armor, and even in armor, she had a nice butt. He also approved of the 'mono-boob' chest plate that was more practical than sexy. "One more check," he said, walking in front of her, he put his hands on the sides of her helmet and kissed her. "No high heels, so I'm thinking three inches taller," he grinned.

"If you are quite done Ronald, I need to show Kimberly how to transform the Hammer into something less noticeable. You really need to establish a library with instructional scrolls on the use of legendary weapons. Now unlike the Lotus Blade, the Hammer can't really transform into other usable weapons. But it can disguise itself as, say, a purse or an umbrella. Thor used to take great delight in leaving it on a table disguised as a purse at a sidewalk cafe and laugh at people trying to snatch it."

Sun laughed in remembrance adding, "I think several of the men got hernias out of trying to thieve that purse."

* * *

"Very good, both of you, now let's go someplace where things are less breakable." Ten minutes and several turned heads later, they found themselves standing in a large grassy area used for drilling and practice with arms. Right now it was empty except for them.

Sun Wukong, with a mischievous gleam in his eye, pulled out a beard hair and an instant later two Monkey Kings were on the field, each with a student.

"Ronald," asked the copy, "how much do you think that your Compliant Golden Hooped Rod weighs?"

"It feels about the same as the training staffs used by Yamanouchi, I think they were forty ounces."

"Your rod weighs a bit over ten tons in its natural state. You expect a forty-ounce staff, so it acts like a forty-ounce staff. Let's practice controlling your expectations…"

Meanwhile, the original was saying. "Kimberly, even with your enhanced physique, you should beware of letting an opponent close with you. In this exercise, keep me away from you. Use the Hammer and your shield to keep me from closing on you."

He produced an Asgardian spear and charged. When the spear deflected the Hammer, Kim stepped past the point and hit her opponent with a savage shield smash. Before her heavily padded opponent could recover, the Hammer returned hitting him from behind and sending him sprawling.

A pair of Asgardian fighters wearing the emblem of Loki leaned against a tree and watched the two young heroes training. "Those two are tough, but they need time to power up. The boy needs to call up the monkey's power and the girl needs time for the Hammer to transform her into a hero. A surprise attack will kill them before they can defend themselves, much less counterattack."

* * *

Sindri took Kim's right hand and lifted her off her feet, giving it, and her, a little wiggle.

"Excellent!" he said, setting her back on the floor, "the joint between hand and arm is solid, even after throwing and catching the Hammer. No sign of rejection, your hand is working well."

"Is there a user manual?" asked Ron, "I mean something to teach Kim how to use it. It is a magic hand, right?"

"Well, it is magic, but it is just a hand. We didn't put any special magic in it. Oh, we could embed your friendship bracelets into your skin like a tattoo. We did that for your sisters. Maybe that would discourage people from trying to remove it?"

In the end, Kim had hers placed on the wrist of her dwarven hand and Ron had his placed under the heart tattoo on his forearm.

Brokk suddenly looked close to tears. Embracing the pair, he declared, "I'm going to miss you guys! And we never got to dance with little Hana!"

The pair freed themselves with Ron saying, "Hey, there is the passage to Midgard. Maybe we can come back sometime and visit."

Both dwarves brightened. After another round of hugs, they waved and watched the pair leave to go back for their last night in Asgard. "You know Brokk, I bet we can create more portals in the Salt Lake Cavern. With Inkeri's help, I bet we can make a portal close to them. Or better yet, one close to Hanna…"

* * *

Late the next morning, Kim was drowsing in her lover's arms. His right hand had found its way up inside her sleep shirt and from what it was caressing, she figured he wasn't exactly sleeping either. Because his forearm was covered, she wouldn't see the tattoo on his arm should she gather the energy to open her eyes and look. 'He marked his body to tell the world that he belongs to me,' she sleepily mused. As Shego had noticed, there were other marks on his body. Those marks spoke only to her of his love and devotion. She worried about the marks on his soul, Jessica had told her about his bloody defeat and celebration of Loki's death. She pointed out to her old teammate that as far as she knew, Ron had only killed on two occasions and since both times were for her, it should be her soul that carried the mark not his. Jessica was worried about Ron and wasn't totally buying Kim's claim that underneath, he was still the good-hearted, a bit of a goof they knew from High School.

She was beginning to think of where to find counseling when his hands started moving down her body. Wondering if he was going to somehow creatively wake her up, she played possum until:

"Ow! Ron! That hurts!"

"Just checking."

"Checking? Oh! Right. You know, it really didn't hurt that much, hardly any at all, so…"

"Are you lying to me?"

"Maybe?"

Laughing, Ron rolled over on top of her and the mock struggle for dominance commenced. Soon they and the bed were well tousled and their bodies showed signs of being well kissed. More importantly, Kim felt like her soul had been healed a tiny bit with each kiss, touch, and laugh from her Ron. Her Ron. The Ron whose body and soul belonged to one Kimberly Ann Possible.

Ron for the first time in a long time felt that things were going to truly work out. Together forever. Two words that made his soul sing. Seriously, his soul was singing the song "Together Forever", the one from Pokemon, not the Rick Astley one. They lay in each other's embrace content in the moment until finally, "Time to go home, I guess," Ron admitted regretfully.

"I suppose so, but some of us have more of a home to go to than others of us, what with you're being a Sorority _Lair_ Master and all," Kim mock pouted.

"Hey, my lair is your lair. Besides, just think, since it's a sorority, you can run around in just your underwear."

"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you!? And just how many times have you seen your sisters in their underwear, buster?"

"Four words, KP: Naked Pillow Fight Referee."

Green eyes flared, "Are you sure it was only the pillows that were naked?"

"Well, Jess and Rhi were only wearing bathrobes until that detail was pointed out. After that, all the competitors were wearing tee shirts and gym shorts," Ron said, dodging a thrown pillow.

Soon they were ready, all they really had was their mission packs, he had brought one of KP's spare ones.

A piece of wire was tucked behind Ron's ear. Kim was carrying a purse in her right hand. Wrapped around her left wrist was a Kittieconda Cuddle Buddy.

Hand in hand, they stepped out of the castle, happy to be closing this adventure in their life.

 _ **Bridge Not Far Enough**_

'This adventure sucks and I can't wait for it to be over,' thought Carlynn as she walked along the top of the wide stone wall. This whole stupid business reminded her of some romance she had read long ago where the heroine had saved the king from an assassin's arrow but had been wounded. The king had tenderly tended her back to health and they had lived happily ever after.

Well, this story didn't have a handsome and noble king with six-pack abs, it had a damned plucky, somewhat tame, well-meaning, testosterone-soaked, caveman. 'No, that isn't right,' she thought, 'he might seem that way, but he can change in an instant into a cold-hearted, laughing maniac who rips people's hearts out of their chests and dances in triumphant joy afterward.'

She had joined the MMP class to see if she could help prevent Ron from being swept into a murderous rage by the screaming monkeys that could come with the MMP. But this was different. This time there was no screaming monkeys, no murderous rage, but a cold decision that he would kill the person who had assaulted Kim and then attacked her while she was helpless. Ron had even done something to become this Zorpox guy to make sure that he didn't get carried away and slaughter everyone in sight. Just Loki.

She decided that she would transfer to another school as soon as she got back to get far away from him. She wasn't afraid for herself, she believed that Ron might even like her a tiny bit and would certainly try to watch out for her like he seemed to do for all the NOPE sisters. No, she was afraid that someone would hurt her and then the laughing maniac would appear to rip out their heart in revenge.

In her story, the heroine had been plagued by dreams telling her about the danger. The story didn't mention how that messed up your sleep.

She hadn't had a good night's sleep in days because of the nightmares. Nightmares about Kim and Ron laying dead on the ground. Nightmares about a Valkyrie carrying away her broken and bleeding body. But the nightmares that drove her to be up here on the wall were the nightmares about Kim laying dead and Ron burning Asgard and bodies everywhere dead on the ground with bloody holes in their chest. She wasn't brave and for damn sure not a hero, but she thought that she could at least help spoil the ambush and run away.

IT JUST WASN'T FAIR! You couldn't swing a cat in Asgard without clawing up someone with prophecy skills, so why was _she_ having the dreams? Heimdallr had far-seeing and far-hearing but claimed that his prophecy skills had a hole where Kim was concerned. Jess? Ha! Jess had been sleeping like a well-fed cat in a sunbeam.

She tried ignoring the dreams, figuring it was meat overdose, too many testosterone fumes, or something like that. But as she traveled down the Bifrost heading for home, she started having dream flashbacks that brought a wave of terror and nausea sweeping over her. Stopping about half-way to the end, she held a quick conference with the others. At first, Drakken and Shego insisted on going back with them, but that seemed to make her panic attack worse. In the end, since the one dream she admitted to having shown her and Jess spoiling a sneak attack, the group decided that Drakken and Shego would provide what misdirection they could by continuing and flying the stealth hoverjet as if the two girls were with them.

The part of the wall she was walking on top of was next to the Bifrost and was much lower than the rest of the wall surrounding the city and the stonework wasn't nearly as well done. Heimdallr had told her this was the part of the wall that was unfinished by the Giant that had singlehandedly built the rest of the wall. Heimdallr claimed that the Giant was cheated by Loki out of his payment so he didn't want to finish it and after seeing the now demised god in court she didn't really blame the giant at all. Strangely, the pale watcher seemed loath to talk about details.

Because she was not an Asgardian citizen, much less a wall guard, she had no idea what she should expect to see. She was looking for people with bows, boiling oil or some other medieval crap that could hurt people on the ground. Dammit, she was a Women's Studies/Psychology major and only a freshman at that.

Heimdallr had agreed with the stealth part of their plan when he caught them trying to casually slip in unnoticed to Asgard. He had hidden them in his cottage, feeding them dinner and fixing them a place to sleep.

She noticed three archers seeming to loiter on the part of the wall directly over the gate. As she walked closer to them, she started feeling the tension in her body building up, like this was a roller coaster cresting the hill before the first drop, that this was the dream starting to rush into reality, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Pulling her Thunderbolt Koga, she flipped the charging switch and kept walking.

* * *

Jessica walked toward the gate after spending the morning casually browsing the vendor stalls on the side of the castle while keeping an eye out for Ron and Kim. She had even haggled for a pair of cute scarves made from some sort of silk using coins that Heimdallr had given them 'to help you blend into the crowd'. Her 'targets' now walked hand in hand a dozen feet in front of her. They would bump together every few steps, it was so sweet. And so fake. They were continuously scanning the few people around them looking for trouble. She was sure that Ron had spotted her, because a few seconds after she thought he spotted her, Kim stiffened for just a second but didn't turn around. That the two didn't acknowledge her presence increased her expectation of danger.

While the gate to the Bifrost didn't really have the traditional barbican/gatehouse of a medieval castle, the part of the wall with the gate was nearly thirty feet thick to resist giants trying to make the gate larger. In effect, there was a long tunnel to pass through to get outside the wall. Kim and Ron entered the tunnel followed by two merchants who had been loitering by the entrance. Jessica frowned and quickly slid in behind the strangers doing her best to be their silent and watchful shadow.

* * *

"I'm afraid, Kjrr," the small blonde bounced a little to settle her black chain mail shirt.

"Of what, Thora?" asked a tall, grizzled Viking adjusting her shirt's hood so she could quickly raise it.

"Failing before I even get a chance to try. Are you sure we couldn't have warned them or just escorted them out and down the Bifrost?"

"They are being carefully watched, if we had warned them, we would have lost the surprise we have. An escort would get them home safely, but then Sigyn's fighters would attack them later on Midgard without warning. No, this will pull their enemies out into the open where we can deal with them."

"Time to go," Kjrr nodded to Hrolf and Thrasi who fell in behind the larger fighter and his tiny captain as they walked out of the cottage and over to Heimdallr.

* * *

Carlynn was almost on the archers when she noticed them getting a signal from a group of men about a hundred paces from the gate.

Hoping she would be heard, she screamed, "Snipers in the field!" Startled, the closest archer who had seen the young woman walking on the wall but dismissed her as no threat, turned to slap her away.

Carlynn dodged and pressed her Koga against him, dropping him to the ground where he lay twitching. The second archer was just starting to pull his arrow back. He was just out of her reach so she pushed the button and lightning reached out, dropped him, and got a piece of the last archer whose arrow shot harmlessly out over the water. Shaking off the shock, he pulled a mace off his belt and advanced before she could turn and run away. She tried to block with the Koga and the mace struck her arm, breaking it and the Koga which exploded in a shower of electrical arcs and flames causing Carlynn and the last archer to drop to the ground, unmoving.

* * *

Carlynn's warning was heard with her Koga's crack of lightning providing the exclamation point.

Jessica, her heart racing, touched the two men she was shadowing with her Thunderbolt Koga as they drew long daggers. Kim and Ron only paused long enough to let their backpacks slide to the ground. Stepping over the twitching bodies of the two men who she really, really hoped were bad guys, Jessica hurried after the glowing blue Mystical Monkey Master and the Hand that Held the Hammer.

Hrolf and Thrasi shot arrows into the mass taking out two of the slingers but not before they got off their shots.

Kjrr yanked Thora's hood up and over her face while raising his shield.

Kim crouched behind her shield, Ron crouched behind her covering both of them in a bubble of blue. Jessica dove into the bubble.

Stones rattled off of Kim's shield, nearly all of their energy absorbed by the blue bubble. Jessica yelped as a stone ricocheted off her hip armor plate

Hrolf and Heimdallr fell, struck by multiple stones. Thrasi staggered but managed to get off another arrow, aiming at someone who was pointing out targets.

Two stones tore chunks out of Kjrr's shield. Four stones thudded into Thora's torso and hood, falling harmlessly to the ground.

"You dare attack my goddess!" roared Kjrr.

"Kjrr, I'm OK! I'm OK!" she raised one arm, eyes flashing blue and shining through the mesh face mask on her hood. Thunder rolled over them, lightning flashing across the sky.

"Heimdallr!" Kim screamed, standing to hurl her Hammer at their attackers then breaking into a run toward the pale guardian on the ground. She dropped to the ground to protect him as best she could while she gave him a quick once-over.

Ron was fully in the grip of the rage. The screams of a hundred enraged monkeys echoed off the wall. "Dammit!", he swore under his breath, "Screw those tofu eating eggs of a tortoise and their ancestors to the eighteenth generation! [1] He had his KP, she was patched and healed up and ready to be with him forever on… But NO! These, these FOOLS had to mess that up.

He raced onto the little plaza towards the field. The Slingers would get off one more shot, but the shield wall forming behind him would crumple like tinfoil when he and his odd ally hit their line. He didn't know what the huge shambling beast was but he had heard hoots of greeting between screams of rage by the unseen simian host surrounding him and figured that whoever it was could be considered an ally at the moment.

The Slingers got off their last shot then desperately dove behind the forming shield wall

Lightning lit up the area again, this time tendrils of brilliant light fanned out exploding flying stones into dust.

The Hammer blasted through the line tossing bodies aside like dolls and then returned, blasting through it again to slap firmly into Kim's hand. Heimdallr might have a bit of a concussion, there was swelling and bleeding on the side of his head and his knee was at least sprained by another hit. But intelligence was returning to her friend's eyes, so she stood and quickly scanned the fight.

She saw that the slingers were gone and an unsteady shield wall had been formed. Ron, a meteor of blue-fire was running alongside his ally; a bear of some sort? They were about to hit the middle of the line. The ends of that line were starting to wrap around the pair like some sea anemone wrapping tentacles around its prey. She laughed grimly, her Ron in normal 'buffoon' mode had defeated a dozen henchmen in the same situation. These fools had greater numbers, better weapons, and body armor. They had zero chance against a mystical monkey master who was fully loaded with the MMP's power and its rage.

Looking for other threats, Kim noticed another four dozen or so fighters forming up along the other side of the plaza with more coming. "By Odin's missing nut!" she swore to herself [2], "Enough is enough!" Shouting "Jess! Guard Heimdallr," she took off to catch up to her partner, hurling her Hammer as she ran.

The sound of another set of screaming monkeys echoed off the wall while the avatar wrapped around her wrist snarled a feline scream of challenge that added to the cacophony. For too many times in the past, she had not been at his side, those days were over. For good or bad, 'together forever' meant that she followed him and if that was into murderous insanity for the both of them, then so be it.

A small part of her soul started to wither as her Hammer smashed people trying to flank Ron and whatever the shaggy beast was that was fighting with him. No matter, her lover would heal and protect her soul as she would heal and protect his. That was her last thought as she gave herself to Mjöllnir's Justice and the MMP's Rage.

Closing to the men who had been trying to get behind her lover, she held out her hand and the Hammer slapped into it. Forgetting about the lesson on keeping her distance, she waded into a clump of fighters striking down men with the Hammer and bashing others with her shield.

Ron was toying with a pair of fighters when he heard someone cry, "The Abomination!" and fighters tried to press past him. A low staff sweep dropped the fighters in front of him, the crack of the staff hitting was due to bones breaking.

Ron, to his credit, was trying to restrain himself and only break bones and even give fighters a chance to flee the fight, but that stopped now. It wasn't the fighters trying to get past him, Kim was a whirling goddess of destruction with Hammer and shield. It was calling her 'The Abomination' that snapped the last leash on his restraint. He became the anvil to Kim's Hammer crushing the doomed fighters to a bloody pulp.

Kjrr was also trying to back off from his berserker rage. He knew that the úlfheðnar had claimed to be able to harness and control their rage and if those flea-bitten mongrels could do it, then so could a true berserker like himself. When he heard the cry of "The Abomination!" he saw the person saying it point in Thora direction. Roaring with fury, massive fists smashed two fighters to the ground then leaping over them, he addressed the slinger next to the man who pointed out his young goddess. He wrapped the slinger's cord around the man's neck, yanking the cord then turning to meet a charging swordsman as the slinger's headless body fell to the ground. By the time he turned back to the man who appeared to be their commander, Ron was there holding the man up by his throat.

"You dare call her an Abomination!" Blue fire dripped off the young monkey master, "Why?"

"A woman cannot be a warrior, only a man! She probably gets penetrated every…" the enraged commander choked out before Ron cut him off by hurling him coughing to the ground.

"Please my Lady, give me Justice or Death!" a young fighter strode forward, it was clear from his weapons and armor that he had not been fighting.

Kim panted, not from physical exertion as much as a mental effort to get the rage under control. The monkeys whispered to her, 'there are only two kinds of enemies, those you have dealt with and those who are still alive.' while Mjöllnir whispered, 'Give him Justice'.

She chose Justice and struck the young man with the Hammer, knocking him back a dozen feet in a flash of blue fire. The fighter struggled to get up and after getting free from armor and clothing that was now way too big, a young girl stood up. Their attackers, the ones remaining standing that is, stood stunned. A Valkyrie appeared, picked up the small naked girl and walked off.

"Death!" screamed the commander launching himself at Kim, only to fall to the ground, skull crushed by a blow from an iron staff.

"Leave the field or become ergi[3]!" bellowed Kjrr.

Only two of those who could flee chose not to. Kim watched with a small amount of sorrow for Ron showing in her eyes as Ron left their dead bodies on the field.

* * *

'Carlynn!' Jessica called, looking frantically up at the wall for her companion. A tall auburn-haired Valkyrie appeared cradling her sister's body like a small child and jumped off the wall landing lightly near her.

"Is she… alive?" she asked stepping up to the woman holding her NOPE sister who was unmoving, broken, and burned.

"I will fix her. You both need better training if you want to mix it up with real fighters. She will need at least five days, depends on how many organs require reassembly. At least all her parts seem to be here. You'd best pay attention to the battle." Eir turned and walked to the gate and disappeared into Asgard Castle.

Jessica turned around to scan the plaza and the surrounding fields. All their original attackers were down or running away, from what she could tell from this distance most of the bodies had arms, legs and a head attached, perhaps they weren't all dead. As far as she could see from this distance, none of the bodies had holes in their chest. That had to be a good sign right? Another good sign was the pale god she was standing watch over was sitting up.

"You!" shouted a small person in a finely woven black chain mail shirt that went down to her knees, "You are Ron's friend, correct?" When Jessica nodded, she continued, pointing to a new set of fighters, "Go and tell him that those men are not his enemy! They were Thor's personal troops and are now under the command of Freyr! Go! Now!"

Jessica took off at a run to catch Ron.

"Thrasi!" shouted the small goddess pointing at the new fighters, "Go tell them to stand down!"

"They may not believe me, but I will try, Miss Thora," Thrasi took off with a limping run.

Thora noticed that the Heimdallr was trying to stand and went to help him. She wasn't much help, she might be able to call lightning, but her body strength was that of a young girl.

Standing and leaning on his greatsword, he listened for a moment and said, "Thrasi is not going to be able to convince them and Freyr won't be here in time. There is going to be a battle. I fear many good men will be killed for naught."

"Brother, force Ron and his group down the Bifrost!" blue eyes looked at him with hope, "Separating the two groups should give us time to explain! It will break the circle of vengeance!"

"Go with them, you can explain what happened. Take care, little sister," he said with laughter in his eyes. Liquid fire ran up his sword as he unlocked the Bifrost.

Thora raced out to where Jessica was trying to calm Ron and company down.

Just as she reached them the Bifrost moved under their feet and the sides curled up around them to make a tube.

A tube reminiscent of a water park slide.

"We're leaving!" she shouted to the group as the Bifrost moved and started to tilt under their feet.

* * *

1) Rhianna is a bad influence on Ron. Apparently, she taught him to swear like Paksairlea. However, some of the impact of the words may have been lost in translation from the original Chinese.

2) Odin had a strange habit of trading body parts for knowledge that he wanted. For example, he traded his eye for the Wisdom of Ages. In this case, however, Snorri Sturluson was strangely silent in his writings.

3) Recall the discussion between Kim and Sindri in Chapter 6, "Nidavellir" comparing what their cultures considered manly. Sindri told Kim that ergi is, "Someone who is unmanly or has the characteristics of a woman. It is such a grave insult that to call someone 'ergi' often results in a challenge to the death."


	17. Left Behind

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103 and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and encouragement. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also), and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **Down the tube**_

"We're leaving!" a small person in black chainmail shouted to them as the Bifrost moved and started to tilt.

The ground lurched and everyone was thrown off their feet as the ground under them shone with colors of the rainbow and curled around them to become a smooth tube.

Heimdallr struggled to focus on delivering his 'new' sister and her allies to the proper location. He had located a parent of Lady Kim's mate in an unpopulated area and was using a grassy field as his initial target. Looking at the travelers in the tube, he saw that Kjrr was wounded, remembering that the large green warriors had a combat medic, he located them. Seeing that Lady Kim had a parent and a sister at that location, he started to move the Bifrost to drop them near there when blackness started taking over his vision. Still adjusting the Bifrost, he passed out, slumping into the arms of Eir, the flames on his sword going out as it fell over. Eir picked up the tall god with no more effort than a bag of groceries and carried him through the gate.

She was met on the way into the castle by Freyr coming out. The brother of Freya nodded at the pale god in her arms, saying, "Tell him that I and Thor's old warriors will guard the gate until he can return."

* * *

Once she realized that her friend Heimdallr was removing them from an impending battle, Kim relaxed and actually found that she was having a blast, sliding down the tube was a rush. She had no idea what was at the end of the ride but trusted that her friend would drop them somewhere safe.

Ron was quite a ways ahead of her along with the girl in black and a huge man that she swore had been a bear a moment ago. Their clothes must be slipperier or something?

Jessica was sliding next to her, a grin on her face, long blonde hair, and steel gray cape streaming behind her. She gently bumped into her former cheer captain, holding up her folded pocket boat, shouting over the wind, "Maybe some wheels would be a good idea at this speed? I can't imagine getting grass stains out of body armor."

Kim held out her hand, laughing and shouting back, "Ron can do it, you should ask him why he knows how." Far away, laying on the ground by the wall surrounding Asgard, her pack rolled over and a folded square popped out of a side pocket and flew into the fading Bifrost tube. After an uncomfortably long moment, it slapped into Kim's hand.

* * *

Ron was trying not to scream with courage. He had never actually traveled this fast down the Bifrost and was worried about the stopping part. Going to visit the dwarves was more like walking on a moving sidewalk. The ride became rougher and suddenly, the tube contracted gently around him, slowing him down and he popped out about ten feet over the above ground pool in Slim's backyard. Managing not to hit any Lowardians in the pool, he stood up spluttering and shaking the water out of his face in time to look through the fog coming off the pool to see a young girl along with a huge Viking make a perfect three-point landing straight out of a superhero movie on the snowy ground close to the pool. No sign of Kim or Jessica.

"Howdy!" an auburn haired girl walked up to the strangers carrying a softly glowing blue walking stick, "I'm Joss, y'all friends of Ron?"

A slightly shorter, brown-haired, young man walked at her side, an electric Koga in his hand, singing its charging tune.

Thora pushed back her hood revealing shoulder-length blond hair, electric blue eyes, and a dazzling smile. She asked, "My friend is hurt, do you have a healer?"

* * *

"You go first," shouted Kim, "If I lose my grip on mine, I can call it to me!"

Jessica threw her square down the tube where it unfolded into a dwarven pocket sailboat, its mast rubbing against the top of the tube with a screeching sound, slowing down the small, wheeled boat. They both slid into it, Jessica scrambled onboard and pulling on the mast, accelerated down the tube to give Kim room to work.

Kim threw her square and ended up riding her pocket boat as easily as her teammate. As she concentrated on disguising her Hammer as a purse, she felt her boots morph into soft soled, fur lined boots and felt what turned out to be a heavy cloak flutter around her legs in the magic wind.

The tube started to shrink with the screeching from the mast grinding on the top of the tube getting louder until there was a shattering sound and the tube disappeared.

Falling, the two athletes tilted the nose of their boats up so that their boat's body provided some lift and the magic wind blew up as well as forward. In the end, either the magic wind wasn't strong enough, they didn't have enough speed, the boat's body didn't provide enough lift or maybe the ground was just too close because they ended up tumbling onto a snowy field.

They both lay there laughing with relief and the rush of adrenaline when Kim looked up to see a large nose sniffing her. "Sister!" cried a small, familiar voice. Hana vaulted off the horse and ran over to hug her. The little girl looked her over and declared, "You got big!"

She heard Jessica say, "Mrs. Booth? Mr. Booth? Uh, where exactly are we?"

"Kimmy! Are you hurt? Where did you come from? Where's Ronald?" Jean Stoppable ran over wearing a big puffy pink coat and boots.

 _ **Any Landing You Can Walk Away From**_

Warluse came running up with a medkit, Warhong and Warlanse following. After giving the wounded man a quick scan, he asked, "Can you stand?"

"Yes," he replied standing with help from Warluse and Warhong.

"Let's get you to the shuttle, where I can work on you easier." The two Lowardians helped their patient walk to the shuttle parked behind the bunkhouse.

"My name is Thora, I haven't known Ron for long, but it is fair to say that he made me the person I am today," said the girl wearing a fine black chainmail shirt.

Joss looked through narrowed eyes at Ron who was wading over to the side of the pool, "What does she mean 'you made her the person she is today'? You cheat'n on Kim?"

Before a stunned Ron could stammer a reply, the girl in black, with a truly wicked expression continued, "To be accurate, he made me a real woman."

* * *

As soon as Kim managed to get up with Hana clinging to her neck, Ron's mom threw her arms around her hugging her tight. "Dear, what are you girls doing out in this cold, dressed like that? "You'll catch your death of cold!"

"Mrs. Stoppable, Ron should be close by. He was ahead of us and then we sort of broke the Bifrost, I'm hoping he's at the house, maybe?"

"Come, let's get back to the house then, and see if Ronald is there," interrupted a large man on a horse, stroking the horse's neck to calm it down, "Hellos can wait until we get to somewhere warm. We can ride double for long enough to get back."

"That's OK, Mr. Booth," Jessica slid up riding her pocket boat, its smooth bottom gliding easily over the snow, "These boards are powered and quiet, we can ride them. No need to overload your horses. Besides, I think we are making them nervous."

Jean mounted her horse, a little awkwardly, perhaps, but not bad for a city girl. But when Kim started to lift Hana up and onto her mom's lap, the little girl protested, "NO! Ride with sister!"

Hana quickly discovered that she could 'help' control the boat by pulling on the mast. Kim quickly realized that Hana wasn't going to be content with slowly sailing along beside the others so the pair was soon sailing wide circles around the group and doing simple stunts, like catching a little air using a snow drift as a ramp. All to Hana's shrieks of delight and laughter, and her exhortations of "Faster! Faster! Higher!"

As soon as they had started for the house, Jean called Ann to tell her that her wandering daughter had shown up. After a few words were exchanged she handed the Kimmunicator to Jessica who talked while she sailed her boat smoothly and quietly across the snow-covered fields keeping a slow pace with the walking horses.

"Hi, Mrs. Dr. P., I'd put Kim on the phone but she has both hands full with Hana riding a little snow sailboat right now… No, seriously, if she uses a hand to hold the Kimmunicator, Hana will run them into a tree… Ron's at the ranch? Great! … I can explain who the other people are… OK, put her on."

"Hi, Joss… Yes, the girl's name is Thora… No, Ron's not cheating on Kim with her… Made her a real woman?!" she laughed out loud then continued talking, "Joss, listen, it's a long story, but the summary is that Thora used to be a six-foot-three or so tall guy until Ron used the Hammer of Justice to change him into a girl… No, Joss, we haven't been smoking anything. I was there, I saw it up close and personal… Joss, I need to talk to Ron. OK, I'll hold on… Don't care if he is meeting with Warlanse, I really need to talk to him now."

* * *

Soon they were at the house. Joseph said that he would take care of the horses while 'you ladies go inside for hot chocolate'. Kim had relaxed after Jessica told her that Ron was OK at her Uncle's ranch. Realizing that she could take this golden opportunity to get Hana off the pocket boat and at the same time meet Mr. Booth, she was soon helping the excitable three-year-old 'brush the pretty horses'.

* * *

"Mad Dog!" Warlanse, the Emperor's Blade Team Lead jogged over to where Ron was climbing out of the pool, "What happened? Where are the others?"

Ron looked around, "We had just beaten off an attack and were trying to figure out what to do next when we were scooped up in the Bifrost and dropped here. I saw Kim and Jessica, they were a little ways behind us. I expected us to all be dropped in the same place."

"What about Carlynn?"

"Carlynn? The last I saw her, she was going back with Drakken, Shego, and Jessica. Somehow, Jessica showed back up at an ambush we ran into when we were leaving, Jess should be with Kim, I didn't see Carlynn at all."

The Emperor's Blade narrowed his eyes, "Mad Dog, you left a man behind. Shego reported that Carlynn was having nightmares of you and Kim walking into a trap and she and Jess both turned around to go back up the Bifrost to protect you two."

"We only saw Jess right before the ambush was tripped… Oh my God," the young team leader was devastated by the realization, "We were alerted to the trap by someone screaming a warning about snipers, that must have been Carlynn. We left her behind. OK, first we need to find Kim and Jessica, I'll call in Team Cobra and we go back as soon as we can get organized. 'Lanse, are your guys available?"

"I'm afraid not, we are on alert status, we must be ready to leave on an hour's notice if the command is given."

Joss butted in, "Jessica is on the phone, Ron, she says she's gotta talk to you right now," handing him a Kimmunicator.

"Where's Kim?" Ron greeted his sorority sister, "Helping Hana snow sail? Where are you guys? … No idea why Heimdallr dropped us in different places. Did you see what happened to Carlynn?… Five days… OK, let me see what resources I have here and I'll call you back in a while. Give everyone my love… Bye"

After telling the Lowardian Team Leader that Carlynn was receiving medical treatment and for now, was in good hands, he turned to go to the main house to find dry clothes before he froze to death and found himself engulfed by Ann.

"Ronald, I am so happy for you and Kim! Shego told me that you two have decided to marry," letting Ron go, she put her arm around him and steered him to the main house, "I have all the licenses and papers filled out and we have Judge Smithy on call, you remember Judge Smithy, right? You and Kim rescued his prized pig that a neighbor had pig-napped right before the county fair that one time. So, your mom and I figure that with the way life has been going for you two crazy kids, a quick, quiet wedding would be best and we can throw a large party to celebrate later…"

Chattering about how delighted she was that they were finally getting married, Ann followed him down into the den where he pulled dry clothes out of a pack and even into the bathroom where he wanted to change.

"Mrs. Dr. P.! I know you are excited about the marriage, but can I have a bit of privacy here to get dressed?" the cold and wet mystical master complained.

"I've seen it before Ronald," she smirked reaching over to turn on the infrared bathroom heater mounted in the ceiling.

"Not in over twelve years!"

"OK, OK, Get changed into dry clothes and then I want to check your wounds," in doctor mode now, she turned to walk out.

"They're healing just fine, Mrs. Dr. P," Ron replied before he saw the trap.

"So, you _were_ hurt," Ann sighed and put her hand on the door.

'Damn. Busted,' he thought.

"Jean said that Kimmy was looking pretty good. That she was giving Hana a ride on some snowboard thing with a sail. How banged up is she really?"

"Can we talk after I get changed?"

"I'll be out here," she said closing the door.

'First I leave a man behind and now I've got to tell her that I wasn't there when her daughter needed me. How much worse can this day get?' Ron thought.

"Feel free to start calling me Mom anytime now!" an almost cheerful voice came through the door.

'Maybe this day is going to be survivable, after all.'

 _ **Left Behind**_

"Amdis, please make sure that Plettet (sounds like 'play-ta') is not running a fever, please." Carlynn had heard that voice before, but she was too lethargic to open her eyes and look. Gentle, cool fingers touched her forehead and neck. She sighed with relaxation at the gentle touch as she floated just under the surface of awareness, surrounded by a warm, soothing softness.

'Wait, who is Plettet? My name is… What the heck is my name?' she thought, "Eh, I'll figure it out later…'

"Eir, She seems to be waking up," said a younger voice.

"Let me finish here and I'll be right there." the older voice said, "It's the Midgardian metabolism burning through the sleeping spell and healing herbs."

The cool fingers rested on her bare shoulder. 'Whoever this is has a nice touch, very soothing,' she floated gently rising from the depths of somnolence.

Warmer fingers touched her face and neck, "Plettet, honey, can you open your eyes?"

"Don't wanna. Sleepy…"

"Can you talk to me for a bit?"

"OK"

"What is your name?"

"Um… Don't remember. I can't remember my name…" the bandaged girl's distress became visible as she tried to move.

"Easy, Plettet, that's OK. You were hurt and you are now healing. The healing has made your mind fuzzy. You will be thinking clearly tomorrow." Warm fingers pressed on her forehead and her distress faded as she sank back into the warm, soothing softness.

"Amdis, go get something to eat and get some sleep. Your Plettet will be asleep until the morning. You can resume your watch then."

"Eir, I owe her and her friends my life. Besides, I have no home to go to, not anymore."

The senior Valkyrie sighed. "OK, but you will go get some food and then you can make a pallet out of blankets and sleep here."

"Thank you. Can I bring you anything to eat?"

"No child, I am not foolish enough to starve myself. Unlike some, I eat and sleep as needed."

The young girl clipped on her cloak and zipped out the door. The healer stretched, joints popping in relief. She had just discharged the last of the wounded from the attack on Lady Kim. Odd battle, the fallen were either clearly dead or had simple, clean bone breaks. Now that Lady Kim and that crazy mate of hers were back on Midgard maybe things would go back to normal. Given that this was Asgard, that was saying something.

* * *

A familiar discomfort brought Carlynn's mind up from the depths. Her right arm was embedded in some sort of a cast? Using her left arm to try to sit up, she found herself on a high padded table in a room with other tables and shelves of books and jars.

'Ugh, where is a bathroom around here?' she thought and spotting a girl sitting in a chair snoozing, said, "Excuse me, could you…"

The girl leaped up with a start, "Sorry! Sorry! I was supposed to be watching you. What do you need? Food? Drink?"

"Is there a bathroom handy?"

"Yes!, Here, let me help you!" the young girl zipped over and started untangling sheets. Helping her patient off of the table, they managed to successfully get the older girl to the bathroom and back. The short trip had exhausted Carlynn and she was soon set up with pillows and a light sheet.

"My name is Amdis," the younger girl said, smoothing out the sheet.

Looking at her helper, Carlynn asked, "Aren't you a little small for a Valkyrie? Pardon me if this is rude, but you don't look big enough to carry fallen warriors back from battle."

"Well, I'm not really anything right now. But thanks to you and your friends I have a chance to be what I was meant to be. Ever since I was little, I knew I was different. I had dreams, prophecies sometimes, but if I told anyone that, I would have been declared ergi and cast out."

"But how can being ergi be a problem? You're a girl."

"Only since three days ago, when I was at the attack on Lady Kim's mate. In the battle, I asked for Justice or Death and I was blessed with Justice."

"So when the battle started, you were a guy?"

"Yes! I had dreams where you stood on the wall and interrupted the ambush, giving me a chance to ask for Justice. I had heard that Lady Kim's mate had transformed Lord Thor into a girl and I knew that my only hope for a true life was to get the same done to me."

"What happened? I sort of missed the battle."

Eir stepped in from the doorway where she had been listening, "Your attackers were soundly defeated. When Amdis here was changed, Kjrr threatened that any fighters not leaving the field would be turned into little girls. Apparently, Amdis was the only fighter in the attack that was a girl trapped in a man's body so to speak, so that pretty much ended the battle," the auburn-haired Valkyrie grinned, "The remaining fighters that were still standing fled the field like well, little girls. Lord Thor's old group of fighters were assembling to attack, so Heimdallr effectively broke up the fighting by flushing Lady Kim, Miss Thora and their people down the Bifrost to Midgard."

"I'm here alone? They left me?"

"They didn't leave so much as were thrown out. I did tell your partner that you would be in here for at least five days healing. So at least she knows you are here with the healers. Who else knew that you were here? Heimdallr told me that you two sneaked back up the Bifrost."

"The girl Thora and her Viking Kjrr knew. Maybe a couple of others?"

"I suspect they will be back. Relax, heal as our guest. It will be a few days before Heimdallr is sufficiently healed to reopen the Bifrost."

"Heimdallr is hurt?"

"Hit in the head with an enchanted stone. Apparently, the attackers did not want your associates to leave. He is very strong, but he will need several days to fully recover."

The healer looked closely into her patient's eyes, "Let me take a look at you. What is your name?"

"My name?"

"Yes, I want to see how scrambled your mind is and we can't keep calling you Plettet."

"My name is Carlynn, why Plettet?"

Eir tapped her chest with her fingers like she was testing a watermelon for ripeness. "Plettet means 'spotted' and your chest is spotted, so it fit."

"Plettet. That sounds pretty."

 _ **Thinks of England**_

It had been a pleasant night for Kim and Jessica. Awanata and Joseph Booth along with Awanata's mom, Wyanet already knew Jessica and greeted Kim with open arms. Dinner was a party with all the extended family dropping by to say hello to Jess and meet Kim.

They found clothes that fit the two girls, Jess was ready to get out of her body armor and Kim's body shrank down to her normal size since she left her Hammer in the corner disguised as a purse and wasn't touching it.

Awanata was starting to show a baby bump and suddenly to Kim, this was the most real thing that she had seen since she left for China. It was, as Ron had said, Awanata and Joseph's child, but it was also Ron's. Because of that, she felt a small connection to it. Kim found herself thinking that maybe she should get out of the hero business and focus on children. Watching Hana playing with the Booth's daughters Onilee and Merope certainly pushed her thoughts in that direction and away from the death and destruction that had plagued her.

Discussion at dinner was mainly about her and Ron. The extended Booth family had, of course, met Ron and Jessica and were curious to hear about Kim Possible the hero and love of Ron's life. In exchange, they talked about Ron, how the children adored him and everything was going well until one of Awanata's sisters referred to him as "Thinker of England".

The conversation ground to a halt when people noticed that Kim looked puzzled and Jessica might be blushing, but it was hard to tell because she had her face in her hands.

Jessica pondered whether she could draw her Thunderbolt Koga faster than Kim could call her Hammer and decided, 'What the heck, she won't hurt me at the dinner table, not with all these witnesses.'

Keeping her face in her hands she said, "One of the requirements was that his, uh, contribution for Awanata had to be witnessed. I and Awanata were the witnesses. When it came time to perform, he couldn't do it with us in the room. I used my hands and a little warm oil to help him out. When I first walked over to him, I told him to lean back and relax. Being the goof he is, he asked, 'And think of England?'. It totally broke the tension in the room and everything proceeded. It was just the one time, I think the Avatar told him how to use meditation techniques to overcome that problem."

Hearing no explosion, she peeked out at her old cheer captain to see her looking a bit sad and replying, "I should have been there for him, thanks for being there for him, Jess. It _was_ just the one time, right?" There might have been the teeniest touch of a growl in her voice at the end.

"Just the one time!" her teammate assured her.

"Thinker of England," Kim finally snorted with amusement.

"Peas all gone! Time for ice cream?" declared Hana, bringing the mood in the kitchen back to a happy normal.

Joseph had insisted that pregnant women needed their sleep and for the two girls it had been a long day, so everyone had gone to bed early.

Before turning in, there was a conference call with Ron talking about the sitch with Carlynn and the paperwork that their mothers had ready to go. The plan was made that the pair would ride their pocket boats to the other side of a nearby little town and get picked up there and taken to the ranch.

After they turned in, Kim and Ron met each other in their meditation happy places. First, they met at Ron's where they were joined by Rufus. Kim was nearly in tears when Rufus jumped on her shoulder to give the best mystical hug his little arms could manage.

"Rufus, I need Team Cobra. Can you all get here in three or four days?" Ron might have had something in his eye himself when he saw Kim cuddling his best little buddy.

"Think so!" After a few more minutes of mystical contact with his beloved humans, Rufus broke the connection to go find Yori and the others. He also had a good sense of when his humans wanted alone time.

Changing to Kim's meditation meadow, the pair snuggled on a blanket under a tree and just talked until they fell asleep.

 _ **Disco in the Depths**_

Since Hana was in the house, the Jessica and Kim decided there was no need for a morning alarm. But instead of Hana, they were awakened instead by ground tremors and then they heard panicked moms saying that the children were missing.

Leaving Jessica who was quickly putting on her body armor, Kim ran from the bedroom, calling for the Hammer. Leaving the bedroom in a tee shirt and boy shorts, she was fully armored with the Hammer in her hand by the time she blew out the back door. Passing Joseph who was looking into a crevasse by the barn that had not been there the night before, she jumped into the hole with Jessica scrambling down the side of the crevasse thirty seconds behind her.

Warm air blew out of a large, garage door sized opening at the bottom of the hole. Warm air that smelled of burning coal and hot metal. Music drifted in the warm breeze.

"Have you girls seen anything like this before?" Joseph had climbed down into the ground and was carrying what to Kim looked like a 12 gauge shotgun with a drum clip.

"Maybe. Stay behind us and please don't shoot anything." Joseph looked at the girls' armor, Kim's shield and Hammer and the short stick in Jessica's hand that was spitting arcs of electricity and decided that maybe, just maybe, for this time, they were the experienced members in this party.

The two girls, with Joseph bringing up the rear, walked side by side down a sandy beach and into a large corridor lit by gems embedded in the walls and ceiling. The corridor ended opening up into a huge workshop with a forge on one side. A workshop that had two huge dwarves and an equally tall light elf woman, all dancing to music holding a little girl in their arms. The music was being played by a slender woman with long black hair tied in a loose ponytail, dark eyes, wearing jeans, a green T-shirt with a white shamrock and barefoot. And unlike the dwarves and light elf, she was not an inch over two feet tall.

"Friend Kim! Jessica! Come dance with us!" called the tall woman.

"Is there danger? Brokk, Inkeri, protect the children!" Sindri tossed Hana to Brokk who was already holding little Onilee. Brokk gently caught Hana with a huge hand, holding both girls protectively.

"Kim! You are armored, carry Mjöllnir and have Jess and this grim fighter to watch your back. Is danger close?" Sindri snatched up his hammer and looked ready for action, "Do we have time to get the girls to safety?"

"Sindri! What are you guys doing here, you crazy dwarves? We thought the children had been kidnapped!" Kim took off her helmet and there was suddenly a small purse in her hand instead of the Hammer.

"Well, by the time we got the portal opened, it was too close to dawn for Brokk and me to venture outside. We called Inkeri to come over and let Hana's folks know that we would like to visit, but Hana found her way here all by herself along with her cousins just as Inkeri arrived. Then the little Fae showed up and said she would play dance music for us, so we danced."

The two little Booth girls squirmed down and ran over to their dad, exclaiming, "Dance with us, Daddy! Dance!"

"I'll run back and tell everyone what is happening," said Jessica, turning and jogging out into the corridor.

Kim saw Joseph eject one shell out of his gun and put it in his pocket. Putting his gun down he let his girls lead him by the hand over to the middle of the floor.

"Mr. Booth, this is Sindri, Brokk, and Inkeri. They are crafters of wondrous and magical items. They are my friends. Everybody, this is Joseph Booth, he is the father of Hana's cousins and is a guardian of the land."

Kim watched the man carefully, he shook hands with her friends, even greeted the small Fae. He was calm and quick to recognize and accept good people. She was expecting that when they came down and found his daughters literally in the hands of these large, supernatural beings, that his gun would have quickly gone through all the shells in the magazine. What kind of person had she become? Apparently, one that believes that shooting first and asking questions of the dead is a standard operating procedure. She felt something soft and warm squeeze her left wrist. Looking down at it she saw the kittieconda looking at her with soft loving eyes. 'We will try to help you.' a soft voice whispered in her mind.

 _ **Sigyn**_

"It's not fair. It's not my fault! It wasn't supposed to be this way!" the goddess chained to three rock formations in a deep cave struggled, wept, and protested.

Freya sat on a nearby rock, Thrasi and Hrolf standing at her side. "Yes, the initial plan worked well," she declared coldly, "Loki was rendered unable to have children which removed a trigger for Ragnarok plus was unable to sleep with anyone except you. You certainly played your part in that well."

"The plan worked! Everything was fine until that idiot Monkey Master messed it up!"

"What would getting revenge on Lady Kim or her mate have accomplished? Have you lost all your prophecy skills? You were risking something that would make Ragnarok look like a picnic!"

"I wasn't out for revenge and I knew the risk! I knew the remnants of Loki's fighters couldn't kill either of them."

"Then what did you want?"

"I wanted her mate to kill me! That is my best chance of being reunited with Loki! Dieing any other way practically guarantees I'd end up trapped in some other part of Hel," Tears ran down the goddess's face, "Loki was the only one that ever loved me, the only one that ever looked at me as an intelligent woman he could share schemes and his life with and not just some useless minor goddess good only for warming a bed and stroking an ego. He made me laugh."

"Honey, get a grip," Freya snapped, "he was a jerk and a cheat, You could do so much better." She thought the tears might be sincere.

"How? It's not like there are any eligible men running around here that aren't dead…"

"Don't be too sure about that, I have an idea. Do you think you can manage to not kill yourself or anybody else for ten days? Give me a chance to try something?"

"Yes."

"Swear it!"

"I swear it. I don't have anything left of value to swear on, but I swear it." Tears still ran down the goddess's face, Now Freya thought that they were sincere.

"Thrasi, Hrolf, unchain her and see that she gets back to Asgard. Make sure that she stays out of trouble. I have to see a dwarf about forging a boyfriend," Freya strode from the cave.

* * *

"So, can you do it? I know it's not the same as a boar skin, but I do owe her for helping me protect Odin," Freya plopped Ron's mission pack on the table. Inkeri pulled bloody clothes out of the pack; boxers, pants, and shirt.

"You want boyfriends for Sigyn? Ones that will love her always and be true to her?" The elven weaver asked, "Why not dump her on Midgard and let her find a mate there?"

"I want her here where I can keep an eye on her. Actually, I was thinking of just one, how many can you make?"

The team put their heads together and talked for a moment. Sindri tore off a piece of bloody cloth, drew a rune on it and lit the edge on fire, and then blew it out. She held a small mirror over the cloth and the smoke made patterns on the glass. After examining the mirror and a bit more discussion, they all turned back to Freya.

"Three," said Sindri, "The blood from the clothing, plus the other required materials we have in stock should allow us to make three copies."

"And they will all love her unconditionally?"

"Yes, but," cautioned the woman who wove spells into their 'products', "all we can guarantee is that if they spend time with Sigyn and she is pleasant and is open to love them, then they will fall madly in love with her permanently. Sort of a baby duckling bonding thing. We still have the physical specifications we took for creating Loki's replacement parts, so we can guarantee they will be compatible that way. They can even give her children if she desires."

"And if they don't bond?"

There is a window of time of about 24 hours, past that, the permanent falling in love forever thing will have to happen the old fashion way."

"What about memories? Will they be mystical monkey masters?"

"No," answered Brokk, "This blood does not carry the required patterns for that, these young men will not have that ability. Might not even have much of his personality. They will remember how to do things, basic facts and some training but any personal memories with be very vague."

Freya looked at the others, "I think that having a harem of three men that are madly in love with her should keep her busy and out of trouble. I have not had any dreams at all about this, I assume that means that nothing bad will happen. Does any of you see any problem with doing this?"

"Not Really," replied Inkeri. "It's not like we are duplicating Lady Kim's mate, his blood DNA only provides part of his pattern. Strange really, it's like his blood controls what he looks like and everything else uses a different pattern from somewhere else. And even if they do look like her mate, it's not like she will ever run into one. Even if she does, why would she care? They aren't true copies of her mate, just ones that look a bit like him. For all I know, she or her mate might be happy to borrow one to give him the night off."

"I don't think that Sigyn is the sharing kind," muttered Brock.

"Don't know why not, we're making her three," Sindri muttered in reply, "how many can she play with at one time?"

"OK, let's do this," Freya thought the part of the discussion that she was interested in was over, "What is your price for doing this?"

Three heads huddled in consultation.


	18. Expected Wedding and Unexpected BF

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and encouragement. The ideas were particularly good this chapter. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

Any appearance or mention of Wanda Wang, Suzie Chin, Antubi Narotu, and Judge Q. Hector Snobblestone are thanks to Sentinel103 and appeared in his "Once Again" story arc and other stories. (Antubi appeared in "The Hunter")

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also), and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **A Bit of Treachery**_

Sigyn waited for Amdis to leave for her afternoon class on rune magic and then casually wandered into the room where the wounded Midgardian girl was healing.

"Hello, I was in the neighborhood and thought I would drop in and see how things are going. My name is Sigyn."

The girl looked around nervously, "You were Loki's wife, right? I'm so sorry…"

"Dear, what happened is not your fault," Sigyn interrupted, smiling at the young woman, "my dear, sweet Loki was in the habit of making people mad at him, it was just a matter of time until he crossed the wrong person. Besides, from what I saw, it wasn't your fault at all, Lady Kim and her insane mate are the ones responsible. But never mind, that is water under the Bifrost, so to speak. I came to see if those sloppy Valkyrie were taking proper care of you."

Sigyn pulled over a chair and sat down continuing, "You see, taking care of men all the time means they don't worry about the details like scarring. Have you seen the ones they left Lady Kim with? Hideous. And you look like they haven't brushed your hair in a week. You have to tell them what you need, dear, OK? First, tell Eir that you would like her to fix the scars. Ask her politely, she will see it as a challenge. And remember that Amdis has only been a girl for a few days. You should guide her in some of the details that she knows nothing about. Like hair brushing. Here, let me help you. How long until you can use your right arm again?"

Standing, Sigyn produced a brush and started carefully brushing the girl's hair.

"Eir says the bandages come off tomorrow, but I will need to wear a brace for several more days. Between getting hit with a mace and my weapon exploding, I had a lot of damage to my stomach and arm."

The goddess paused brushing her hair, and touching the sheet covering the girl, asked, "may I?" Seeing her nod, she lifted up the sheet and saw that her stomach and lower abdomen were still bandaged. Putting down the sheet, she continued, "Those spots on your chest are lovely, are they natural?"

The two chatted like old friends for a while. At last Sigyn said, "If you will excuse me, I have errands I must run. Has Lady Kim or her mate been by to see you?"

"No, but Heimdallr has. He told me that he forced my friends back to Midgard and that until his head heals, he cannot open the Bifrost. But he says that once we both heal, he himself will take me home if necessary."

"The Watcher was always an old softy. Well, like I said, I must be off. I will drop in again if I can."

A little disappointed that the girl knew that her friends couldn't come visit because the Bifrost wasn't operational, she thought, 'That's OK, I have a more entertaining arrow in my quiver.' Walking down the hallway, she pulled off a few of the longer hairs on the brush and hid them in her sleeve.

* * *

An orange portal appeared in the workshop and Freya and Sigyn walked through it. Looking around as the portal closed, the dwarves were nowhere in sight but Inkeri was working on what looked like three identical cardboard cutouts of a young man.

"Hello Inkeri, we thought we'd stop by and see how the work on boyfriends for Sigyn is coming along."

Inkeri stood up and stretched. "Lady Freya. Lady Sigyn. Sindri will start the final forging soon, they will be ready in the morning. Since you created your own portal, I assume that Heimdallr can't control the Bifrost yet?"

"Eir thinks it will be a few more days until he can control it." As the two chatted, Sigyn walked over to look at the pre-boyfriend shapes. Inkeri had all the final materials neatly laid out. Looking at the faces, she noticed that Inkeri had done different freckle patterns, most likely to allow her to tell them apart. Casually replacing the strands of her hair on the third figure with the strands of hair she got from brushing Carlynn's hair, she wandered back to join the conversation.

 _ **Nana's briefing**_

The Mystical Monkey Master felt the blue energy surround him, creating a swirling, azure vortex that would devastate any defense. He approached Asgard's wall to begin his rain of vengeance for his beloved KP. The vortex began to erode it, digging into the unyielding stone with tendrils of pure fury. The ground opened under his feet and the serpent Jörmungandr burst out enveloping him with massive coils while Fenrir jumped over the wall, landing on his shoulders and started to lick his face with a rough tongue. As Ron sputtered, the enormous wolf morphed into a black panther and the serpent morphed into a slightly smaller python.

"No nightmare tonight, little one," hissed the snake, "You have no sisters ready to poke you awake before you damage the room."

"It is late morning and the wise grandmother is making coffee, perhaps you should get up and talk to her. The young should take advantage of the wisdom of elders while they can," purred a soft voice.

Ron felt the tug of something pulling out the plug from his air mattress. "Hey, Kala would have let me sleep," the young mystical master grumbled as his butt settled to the hard floor to what sounded like a giant whoopie cushion deflating.

Getting up he saw Rhianna on the couch, dead to the world, apparently sleeping through the sound of his deflating bed. Walking over, he took the comforter that was sliding off of her and pulled it back up over her, gently tucking it around her. The exhausted girl snuggled into it without waking.

'What a life,' he thought, grabbing clothes to put on after a shower, 'been a few miles of bad road, a few _feet_ of easy streets. Now I have a second sister, a child on the way and KP is going to marry me.'

A sleepy eye opened to follow him walking across the den. "Ron sure looks contented. I guess he found Kim and everything worked out OK." Snuggling deeper under the comforter, Rhianna went back to sleep.

After taking the shower and getting dressed, he walked into the kitchen.

"Morning, Nana," he said, sitting across from the elderly Illuminati leader. "I see that Rhianna is asleep in the den, looks like she came in late last night. Did they retrieve Wade?"

"Good morning Ronald. Ah, yes, it is still morning," greeted Nana pointedly glancing at the clock and sliding a cup of coffee over and continuing, "Yes, he is currently laying low with Antubi and Nova," she smiled, "It seems there was a misunderstanding with some secret Homeland Security covert operations bunch. Your associates removed Wade from their care and a Lowardian lawyer moved quickly to prevent any charges being filed due to their lack of _proper_ paperwork and procedure when they checked him out of their facility."

"Really? I'm surprised the Lowardians have the legal pull," Ron popped a bagel in the toaster.

"Times are changing, Ronald. In fact, I think it is time for this old woman to retire."

"Back to sunny Florida?"

"No, I am thinking of building a house out in the country where I can help keep track of a great-grandchild."

"Really? Cool!"

"Yes, I am splitting the EGBT into isolated cells and I have recommended that the Blue Heart Society destroy all of its records except for DNAmy's databases in England."

"What? Why?"

"The Illuminati oddsmakers are estimating that unless we reduce our public exposure, there is a sixty-five percent chance that there is going to be a public backlash against people who are suspected of being created or controlled by secret societies of aliens or powers of darkness."

"There are already rumors that the Blue Heart Society is controlled by either the Greys or the Old Ones and that the goal of these puppet masters is either turning humanity into a willing race of slaves or making humans into a tastier food source. The Illuminati oddsmakers predict that politicians will claim that the mere existence of the Lowardians proves these other shadowy puppet masters exist and increases their probability of getting elected."

She sighed. "It's the oldest trick in the political book; create an outside threat to unify your constituents and with only a little digging, they will have a tangible, real group of people created and controlled by these puppet masters to show as a threat. The next step will be to portray people like you and Kim as examples of that threat and require you to register, restrict your movement, stuff like that."

"Those rumors about the BHS can't be right! Can they?"

"I've seen the BHS records and Amy Hall has done in-depth studies of their work with bloodlines. We know who the governing body was back to the beginning and I believe, but can not prove that they have all been not only human but United States citizens. I've never seen them do anything but make the human race more disease free, except for two cases. The Blue Heart Society was started by people whose knowledge of genetics was from practical experience with animal husbandry and plants used for crops. Their first idea was to simply join the Eugenics movement that was popular at least in the United States and Germany. Then around 1905 the president of the BHS, Webster Muyers, met a cousin of Charles Darwin named Francis Galton who convinced him that it was better to encourage the best people to have more children than to try to cull defectives and degenerates from the population."

"Culling people, you mean, killing them?" Ron was horrified.

"Not necessarily, but forced sterilization was pretty common in some places. In fact, the Supreme Court in the late 1920's ruled that the principle that allows compulsory vaccinations to protect society covers the cutting of a woman's Fallopian tubes to prevent her from having children who would be a burden on society.[1] Eugenics was a pretty popular movement during the 1920's and 1930's. Ideas about making sure the 'right' people produced children persisted for years. It wasn't until the 1960's that the Supreme Court struck down a Connecticut law that prohibited the use of contraception, even by married couples. It wasn't until the early 1970's that birth control was legal for everyone in the country. So the idea that people can control their own breeding is pretty recent."

Nana took a bite of toast and a sip of coffee.

"Anyway, back to Webster and Francis in 1905. They worked together for a period because Galton was convinced that a person's DNA is shown in their fingerprints. That turned out to not be true, but the BHS data on family lines enabled it to do a lot of pretty good guessing on which people should marry and be encouraged to have children to make inherited diseases and afflictions vanish."

"How is that different than just not allowing certain people to have children?" Ron asked.

Nana took another bite of toast, "Webster's vision was to prepare humanity for the future, one family line at a time. He claimed that because only a fool would try to predict exactly what kind of people the future would require, he focused on what he claimed was obvious weaknesses like things that cause premature death and crippling ailments both mentally and physically.

A few years later, the Germans started their Reich Bride Schools where young women were taught Nazis doctrine and philosophy as in addition to child raising and homemaking skills…"

"Were there Reich Groom Schools?"

"Hmm. No, I can't think of any schools to prepare boys for marriage," Nana then added thoughtfully, "there is Miss Vera's 'Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls'[2] in New York City, but its existence reinforces my belief that society thinks that only girls need to be 'finished'. Anyway, Webster thought that these schools were misguided because he firmly believed the best chance for the survival of humanity was to have a mix of peoples, cultures, and philosophies because you never knew what kind of person would be critical to saving a future world. In this case, he was correct because, towards the end of World War II, there were insufficient eligible young men left alive for the girls coming out of the school and many girls ended up being shifted into technical, non-housewife jobs."

Nana took another sip of coffee and continued, "There were two cases where the BHS did not follow this principle. The goal for the Stormrider and the Possible family lines was to provide children with enhanced capabilities as directed by a small group of people that I have been unable to track down."

"Enhanced abilities in children?"

"Come on Ronald, be in the moment, please. Your soon-to-be wife's parents and grandparents were carefully selected to give her the best in human physiology plus the whole 'Chosen One' thing. Rhianna is, for all practical purposes, a magician/sorceress and you are her stepbrother. You have an unborn child who is expected to be a powerful Native American shaman of some sort. Do you really believe that just any person could become a mystical monkey master? I don't mean just take a charge, I mean host both the power and the avatars to interface with the power." She smiled at him. "When you get down to it, it's not much different than breeding animals to have the desired, sometimes specialized traits."

"So, you're saying," Ron pondered, wondering if his bagel was ever going to be done. "that Kim and I are like a couple of Cairn Terriers, bred over the generations to hunt supervillains instead of rats?"

Nana refreshed her coffee but decided since the sun wasn't over the yardarm yet, it was too early to 'sweeten' it.

"Something like that," Nana admitted. "Although I'd claim while Kimberly might be like a Cairn Terrier, you are more of a Great Dane."

"OK, but, people are claiming that the whole program is run by mysterious aliens? Or by tentacled elder deities from the beginning of time? That's just nuts!" Ron pulled a bagel out of the toaster and reached for the cream cheese.

"You personally know a leprechaun. One of your teachers can transform herself into a wolf. You have a magic staff given to you by a Chinese demigod. You just got back from Asgard dealing with Norse gods by using the Bifrost for transport! There is so much weird crap going on around you that is real that the imaginary things that people are scared of seem pretty damn reasonable. In fact, the Lowardians showing up is so comfortingly normal that people are clinging to them as a shelter against the weirdness of their _own_ world."

"So, the Lowardians are now the good guys?"

"Absolutely, Ronald," Nana said quietly, "The first Lowardians came to kill you and Kim, then loot the planet. That motivation seemed rational to many people. Sick and wrong, sure, but people understand it. The second Lowardians to show up acted like some sort of Federal Marshals bringing law and order to the old West. People can wrap their heads around that. They find it comforting. Very few people in this world are as 'never be normal' as you and they _like_ it that way."

"What can I do to help?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe try to keep a low profile. Talk to Kim and see if you both can have a somewhat normal life for a while. Let Drew and Shego be the public heroes. I have formed an EGBT cell that I will personally control to watch over the Booths and your child. Maybe it's time to dissolve the Blue Heart Society. After all, Dr. Hall can accomplish more in a week using her CRISPR gene editing tools than the BHS did in three generations of children. We've kept them for this long because genetically modifying humans is scary to many people, but breeding them make sense and just sounds immoral."

"Wait. People aren't afraid of Drakken and Shego?"

"No. Again, Drew is the result of an experiment gone out of control and Shego got her powers by being hit with the fragment of a comet. Not due to the machinations of a shadowy group of puppet masters," Nana replied.

Shaking his head at the irony, "Don't see how I'm going to be able to live a normal life anytime soon," he laughed, then added, "Kim couldn't be ordinary if her life depended on it, Nana."

"Then let's hope things don't get that serious."

1) Supreme court case BUCK v. BELL, (1927). Articles on the Internet claim that it has never been overturned. This author finds it a little disturbing that the government can deny a person the ability to reproduce, yet it would be nearly another forty years until the Supreme Court ruled that contraceptives were legal to use for people to control their own ability to reproduce.

2) To the best of my knowledge, this is a real school. Although, it had no Yelp reviews.

 _ **The Third Duckling**_

Sigyn was taking no chances. Her bedroom had been upgraded with a larger bed and she had picnic supplies laid in. With the large attached bathroom, she and her new boyfriends could easily spend two or three days making sure the baby duck syndrome was well and truly set. Quietly she had Thor's bedroom in his old suite set up with food the same way, plus the door to the bedroom was fixed to lock from the outside.

Her three new boyfriends, unconscious and supposed to be that way for at least two more hours, were delivered to her bedroom. Calling for her most trusted pair of servants, they carried off the one with three freckles in a triangle pattern to Thor's old suite.

Sigyn locked her doors, took off the blindfolds and waited.

Carlynn was walking the halls just to stretch her legs. She wasn't healed enough to leave the Eir's care, but she was healed enough to be bored. "Pardon me, miss, are you Carlynn?" A person in a uniform she hadn't seen before stopped her.

"Yes, what do you want?"

"Lady Sigyn sent me to show you to some rooms where you can be more comfortable until you are able to go back home."

"But Eir hasn't released me yet."

"That's fine, let me show you the rooms and you can use them whenever you want."

She followed the retainer until they came to a nice suite. Going in, she was shown around and then:

"The master bedroom is through…" the retainer gasped in shock, "Miss! I think that is Lady Kim's mate! Check on him while I go get a healer!"

Carlynn ran into the bedroom and saw Ron sprawled out on the floor. Running to his side, she didn't notice the door close nor the click of the lock.

"Ron!" Gently rolling him over and pulling off some stupid blindfold thing, she quickly ran her hands over his body looking for bleeding or a knife sticking out… anything that would be evidence of an attack. She really needed to sign up for an emergency responder course. Patting his cheeks, she called "Ron! Ron! Can you wake up please?"

He stirred and opened his eyes. "Who… Who are you?"

"It's Carlynn, don't you remember?"

"Carlynn… That's a pretty name…"

She got closer so she could stare into his eyes trying to make sure that both his pupils were the same size. They were, but his eyes seemed a darker brown than she remembered. And he was clean-shaven, perhaps Kim didn't like the scruffy look.

She started to get up to see where the heck the healers were when strong arms wrapped around her neck and drew her in for a soul-searing kiss. Panicked and at the same time a bit offended at the unexpected advance, she started to punch him in the face when she thought, 'Oh no, he must think I'm Kim. What should I do? Will he freak out and go all mad monkey on me if he finds out I'm not? No, Ron's a decent guy with girls, he'll come to his senses in a minute and we can just laugh this off as a concussion kiss or… something. I'm leaving anyway, so what's the harm in just one kiss?' She relaxed and leaned into the kiss. Besides, it was a very nice kiss.

 _ **To the Ranch**_

"Uh, K?"

"Yes?"

"Is that a Pegasus flying toward us?"

"Yep. Technically, it's a robot horse modified with turbofan assist and wings."

"Your brothers make it?"

"My brothers and Joss. I'm pretty sure that Daddy and Uncle Slim checked over their design and software."

Jessica had lost the ability to be surprised. She felt that given all she had seen lately, that if the Flying Spaghetti Monster itself had dropped out of the sky and offered them a ride, she would not have blinked an eye. After all, that very morning she had been awakened by dancing dwarves who had cut a hole between worlds in the ground next to the Booth's barn. A hole, that once created, could appear and vanish at their whim. She had found out that Kim was marrying Ron this day, not from Kim, but from Inkeri, the Light Elf who had 'seen it in a dream'. She had given her a small package to give to Ron and Kim at the time of the wedding and sworn her to secrecy until then because Kim didn't know she was getting married today. Like many of her sorority sisters, she wore a necklace proudly displaying the word "NOPE". Lately, she was thinking of trading it for one that said, "WTF?".

Mr. Booth dropped them off late that morning at the planned rendezvous at the municipal pool in the small town down the road a piece. Being the middle of winter, the pool was closed, but it had a nice sized parking lot. They had been left standing in the cold waiting for a ride. Mr. Booth had given her a leather bomber jacket that fit over her armor once she ditched the cape. Kim's armor had appeared with a long, wool lined cloak that she wrapped around herself for warmth, claiming that was sufficient.

Jessica had expected their ride would be a car or maybe even a Lowardian Fast Attack Shuttle, but sure, a robot flying horse would do fine. Why not?

The horse glided to a landing close to them and trotted over.

"Hi cuz, you girls need a lift?" a feminine voice said. 'At least, even though the sound came from the horse, its lips didn't move,' Jessica thought, "That's a blessing, I suppose.'

"Sure, do I get to pilot it or am I just the passenger?", asked her teammate.

"Well, pretty much just the passenger, but in a pinch, the controls are standard ultralight controls," the voice came from the horse as it spread out its wings and knelt down to let them climb on board.

The robot's body was longer than a real horse, long enough for two western style saddles. She climbed up and sat in the saddle behind Kim and was almost surprised when the stirrups and seat auto-adjusted to make her comfortable. Almost, but not really. She heard her friend laugh, shouting "Giddy-up". Then with a sudden whine of turbofans, the robot leaped into the air with a downbeat of its huge wings.

As soon as her spine decompressed from the takeoff, Jessica relaxed and looked around. A clear plastic bubble had slid up to protect them from the biting winter cold. The scenery was great, the day was sunny and the sky, clear. Since the robot didn't flap its wings in level flight, the ride was smooth and with the warm sunshine and warm air blowing from somewhere under the bubble, she found herself dozing until she was shaken awake by the landing in Dr. Slim Possible's backyard at his ranch.

Unbuckling her 'saddle belt' she swung a leg over and just slid to the ground. Kim was surrounded by Ron and family, 'as it should be,' she thought, still feeling a tiny bit ignored.

"Hello, dear," an old but certainly not elderly woman walked up, "My name is Amanda Possible, but feel free to call me 'Nana'. Come to the kitchen for some tea and tell me of your adventures. Do you prefer to be called Jess or Jessica?"

"Jess, please. So… are you here for the wedding?"

"Oh dear, I thought Ann wanted it to be a surprise"

" _WHAT?!_ A _WEDDING?!_ _**TODAY?!**_ ARE YOU KIDDING _**ME?!**_ " the panicked feminine voice was clearly heard.

"Nana, it appears that it was a surprise," Jessica laughed. All the craziness and danger over the last couple of weeks were worth it just so she could be here at this place and at this moment in time.

 _ **Battle Scars**_

"Kimmy, while we are waiting for Judge Smithy I want you to have a full body scan to see what effect this Hammer of yours has on your body, plus a general check on your injuries. You remember Dr. Skyler Beechman?" Ann motioned to the young doctor that Kim remembered from the hospital.

"Hi, Dr. Beechman. No offense, but Mom, can you do it?"

"Well technically, the Lowardian Senior Medical Officer will be running the scans. Kimmy, this is Senior Medical Officer Paksmonga," nodding to a Lowardian woman, "Paksmonga, this is Kimberly, my daughter." While her daughter and the Lowardian nodded acknowledgment to each other, she continued, "It's really best for doctors not to treat family members."

"Mom, can you at least be there with me, please?"

Ann drew a breath and asked, "If you want me there, I'll be there. Are we not going to like what we see?"

"No, you won't."

Kim reached for a small purse hanging from a strap she wore cross-body. The strap disappeared as the purse was replaced by a huge, short-handled Hammer. The doctors and Ron watched as energy visibly ran from the Hammer swirling up her arm and around her body. In less than a minute, Kimberly Ann Possible was transformed into Lady Kim, The Hand That Holds the Hammer.

"Holy crap," murmured the doctors. Well, Paksmonga didn't use those exact words, but the Lowardian expression was very close.

"The effects start to wear off in about fifteen minutes after I put the Hammer down."

* * *

Kim came into the medical bay on the Fast Attack Shuttle attired in full armor but had left the Hammer outside. Ron followed close behind.

"Does the armor disappear when you shrink back to normal?"

"No. It does seem to disappear later, but I've never seen it vanish."

"OK, let's get that armor off as quick as you can and lay on the scanner table. Ron, help her, please."

"Mom, I'm naked under this stuff!", Kim protested as Ron started quickly unbuckling her shoulder pieces.

"Honey, Dr. Beechman needs to see it, it's nothing I haven't seen before and I know that Ron has seen everything, so shuck that armor so we can do a scan before you start reverting to normal."

"I haven't seen it before," pointed out Paksmonga. Paksmonga might be an alien, but the twinkle in her amber eyes told Ann that she knew that she was teasing Kimmy.

"Not helping," muttered Kim, but she started loosening her skirt of overlapping leather strips reinforced with metal plates.

Within two minutes a naked Kim was laying on the table under the scanner. Ron hadn't been told to leave and was amazed by her enhanced body. He had seen her naked but not ' _Hammer enhanced_ ' naked. Even when she was relaxed, her muscles stood out where there was a smooth body before. Her abs were incredibly defined and when she rolled over, her back muscles and glutes were a body builder's fantasy dream. As he had guessed earlier, she also gained about three inches in height. Her bust seemed to be a bit smaller, maybe that was an advantage in fighting? He'd ask Shego if her larger bust interfered with martial arts, but he preferred to keep breathing.

"Amazing," said Paksmonga, "I wonder where the extra mass is coming from?"

"Ron, go locate some clothes for Kimberly and wait outside, please," Skylar asked.

"OK, call out when you want them."

Waiting for Ron to run out the door, she continued, "Hmm. I don't like how some of her muscles are causing some of her organs to be crowded together," said Skyler looking at a display, "Kimmy take a deep breath… Any pain or discomfort?"

"No," Kim replied, "I feel fine, just a little bulky."

"What happened here?" the doctor motioned to her abdominal area.

"I was in a fight with a couple of giant champions, took some pretty bad hits. Eir said she had to piece my spleen back together."

"Dr. Eir?" asked Ann.

"Valkyrie Eir, she was the senior healer in the city, Mom"

The three doctors were by turns amazed and horrified. The imaging equipment was as good as actually opening up her body and looking at her internals directly and visually.

"Kimberly, did Eir tell you anything about using a fine netting?", Skyler motioned for the scanner to zoom in on a specific area.

"Yes, she said that they use spider webs to hold broken organs together until they heal. She said that they dissolve over time and told Ron that we must not have physical relations until the last one dissolves. She said that we'd know when Ron can press on two spots without causing pain."

Skyler reached out and pressed, "These two spots?"

"Ow! Yes, those are the spots."

Skyler pursed her lips. She really wanted to talk to Kim about a problem she was about to have, but Ann was a runaway train with respect to this crazy wedding. "Kimberly, I want to talk to you before you run off. I want twenty minutes."

"OK"

After what seemed, to Kim, as an eternity of rolling this way and that, being poked and prodded, but was really only a half-hour, her body was back to normal and the doctors had gotten all the scans that they wanted. Well, scans of her body that is. Her dwarven hand was impenetrable to the medical scanners.

Ann walked to the door and called, "Ron, you got fresh clothes for Kimmy?"

"Yes Ma'am, I certainly do."

"Well, bring them to her."

She broke out in a grin as a smartly dressed Ron wearing slacks, dress shirt, and tie held the door open for Monique who slipped in, carrying a white dress on a hanger and a bag.

"Kim! What's the deal here! I'm minding my own business when your Dad and Jim drop by the house and tell me you're getting married in a couple of hours and would I like to attend? Do you know how fast your dad drives? I swear I thought I was gonna meet Jesus there a couple of times!"

 _ **No Regrets (Yet)**_

Carlynn noticed that it was getting dark. Must be getting late. She lay dozing in the really comfortable bed naked from the waist up with his head cradled on her chest. She figured that she was probably a little bit wonky from the healing stuff, but still, decided that when the drugs wore completely off, there would still be no regrets. Although given her druthers, she would like another dose because her hand hurt and the icepack on her hand was just about all melted. 'I'll ask him to make me another in a moment,' she thought, running her fingers through the blonde hair of the sleeping young man.

The make-out session ignited by the 'just one kiss' was unexpected, and she was about to call a halt to it when she realized this guy was not Ron. Her first clue, ignored in her initial panic that Ron was injured, was the dark brown eyes and lack of a scruffy beard. The proof was the lack of scars on his upper body and no tattoo on the arm. What absolutely _lit her fire_ was the way he looked at her like she was the sun, moon, and stars in the sky of his existence. He touched her with a heady mixture of wonder, reverence and barely constrained lust.

Their session had gotten pretty heated until he had called a halt because he said that she was not thinking clearly. Not Thinking Clearly. This was not a normal guy, a normal guy would have gone all the way with her, and she would have been OK with it, heck, more than just OK: She recalled giving vocally enthusiastic consent at the time.

At one point, she had gotten up to go to the bathroom and had nearly fallen from dizziness. He caught her, held her in his arms until the spell passed and when she had returned, he had a picnic lunch spread out for them. After eating, she had felt better.

"What is your name?" she asked, thinking that she was way behind in getting to know this guy. She needed to calm down. The way she was acting was like he was custom-made for just her.

"Sigbjorn. It means 'victorious bear'. something like that. Carlynn means 'free man'."

"I prefer to claim that it means 'free woman'."

"Is being a free woman important?"

"I want to go about my life without fear."

"I will go with you and protect you."

"I shouldn't need protection from a guy!"

"OK, then I will go with you in case you find yourself needing to be kissed."

"Right," she rolled her eyes, "What about you? What do you want?"

"Your love, your affection and to share your life."

"Be serious! Are you a warrior fallen in battle and carried to Valhalla by the Valkyries?"

"No, I was forged in the magical fires of mighty dwarven smiths using light elven runes of magic so I could meet you, fall madly in love with you and be your devoted boyfriend until the end of time."

"Stop teasing me," she growled, although her heart wasn't into the rebuke. This was sort of a fairy tale where the young Lightning Warrior wakes her sleeping prince with a kiss. Okay, technically he was already awake, and he kissed me first but that just makes it less creepy. Carlynn's thoughts were interrupted by a twinge of pain in her right hand.

He noticed the twitch in her expression, "Are you in pain? Where does it hurt?"

"My hand," she replied holding up a hand that was encased in a brace, "the healing herbs must be wearing off."

"Stay put, I will return with a Valkyrie," getting up he went quickly to the door.

"Locked!" he exclaimed, "These doors shouldn't be locked!" He visibly pushed down a flare of panic.

"OK," he walked over to a chest by the wall, "there is ice in with the food, we'll take some of it and make an ice pack, that should help the pain. Then we can figure something out."

"Don't worry, someone will find me," she declared soothingly, "Eir herself was taking care of me, there was an aide watching over me and Heimdallr himself knows about me."

He came back with an improvised ice pack and carefully put it on her arm and hand.

"That should help," she murmured, pulling him closer with her left hand, "Maybe you could help distract me from the pain…"

 _ **...And We're Gonna Get Married**_

Kim floated from the Shuttle's medical bay into the Ranch's kitchen, towed by Monique. She had dreamed of having a wedding several times in her life. This was not going to be anything close to any of those dreams. But that was OK, this was for real, her legal and somewhat public declaration that Ron belonged to her and she to him.

James intercepted them in the kitchen. "Kimmie, is this what you really want?"

"Yes, Daddy, it is."

"Then let's do it."

Hand in hand they walked out onto the deck.

Kim saw that the deck's normal tables and chairs were replaced by a few rows of folding chairs. Seated and looking her direction were Ron's parents and Hana, her Mom, Jim, Slim, Bethany, Joss, and Nana. Standing were various Lowardians and others including Jessica and a girl she hadn't met along with a Robo-Wade with a camera. Ron, wearing slacks, dress shirt and even a tie walked up to her and took her hand.

The day was sunny with a few clouds gathering directly overhead. It would have been cold, but the Lowardians had their Fast Attack Shuttle on "Ready Alert" and the waste heat from the idling engines was used to provide a gentle, warm breeze for the small gathering.

"Are you sure this is good enough KP? We can wait to give us time to do something better." he offered.

"No way boyfriend, let's do this now, we'll have a killer reception later."

A man dressed in official judge's robes was filling out some papers talking to Ann at a podium.

"Isn't that the guy whose pig we rescued?" asked Ron.

"Yep, that's Judge Smithy, his neighbor nabbed Nugget right before the county fair. The year before last I believe."

Jessica, waiting for a dramatic moment to spring Inkeri's gift on the couple, looked up to see that the overhead clouds seemed to be getting lower. 'We'd better snap this up before it rains on their parade,' she thought.

A small hoverjet landed on the back lawn and Team Cobra disembarked. A small pink shape streaked to Ron and up onto his shoulder, complaining fiercely.

"Rufus, Buddy! You made it! Mrs. Dr. P had it in her mind that the wedding was going to take place right now and I thought you guys were still a couple of days out."

Yori, Suzie, and Wanda walked up as Hirotaka and Tim unloaded two weapon cases from a compartment on the side.

"One moment, Rufus-sensei, I must greet Ron in the proper manner of Team Cobra," Wanda chirped as she stepped up to Ron, slid her arms around his neck and proceeded to slowly and thoroughly kiss the stunned Mystical Monkey Master.

Jessica was too fixated on the impending train wreck to notice the clouds directly above them definitely getting lower.

Monique was immediately in Kim's face, "Take off the dress girlfriend, you call that Hammer and you'll tear the dress! And we'll never get the blood out of that white fabric! Take it off! Now!"

"Hirotaka claims that you told him that Team Cobra now has very affectionate official greetings," Yori pointed out very reasonably.

"I never KISSED HIM!" the redhead snarled.

Being careful to stay very close to Ron to use him as a shield, Wanda broke off the kiss and mouthed "Got you".

"Ron Stoppable, step away from the hussy, NOW!" the order was a feral scream.

A vortex glittering with rainbow colors reached to the ground and when it lifted, Ron, Wanda, and Rufus were gone.

The primal scream of rage covered Monique's whimpering about the destruction of the dress.

"Honey, do you think that the Lowardians could drop Ronald off in a black hole for me since the Kepler wasn't replaced," James said to a stunned Ann.

"Perhaps I should add a slide to "The Talk" on not kissing beautiful women on your wedding day unless they are your bride," Gene Stoppable said to his wife while holding a bouncing Hana who laughed, "Brother in trouble now."

Judge Smithy broke out laughing. He had called Judge Snobblestone in Middleton that morning to brag that he was going to marry Kim and Ron. His friend had just laughed at him and bet him five bucks that something would come up to prevent it.


	19. My Heart is Back in Asgard

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and encouragement. And a "too smutty" warning for a scene in the initial draft. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also), and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

When it comes to making shorter chapters, this is sort of a failure. I could alternate Kim and Ron centric chapters, but I'd prefer not to.

 _ **Back in Asgard**_

Fortunately, there was no pool under him when Ron landed on Asgard. There was also no tube-turning-into-roadway like he expected. The Bifrost spit him, Wanda, and Rufus out a few feet above the plaza in front of the gate and Heimdallr's cottage. He even managed the cool looking superhero three-point landing, matching Wanda and Rufus. " _Mannn_ , I might be getting the hang of this.", he grunted as he stood up straight.

"Lady Ki…" The pale gate guardian looked surprised at seeing Wanda, "You are not Lady Kim. My humble apologies, miss. I had aimed the Bifrost to pick up Lady Kim and her Mate. My abilities are still impaired by the attack." He leaned unsteadily on his sword, the healer that looked like an older version of Joss had her arm on his as if to steady him. A woman wearing a necklace that sparkled in the noonday sun stood next to them.

The 'Mate' walked up with Rufus jumping and climbing up onto his shoulder, "Well Heimdallr, you got the Mate right here and if your far-hearing is working, you should be able to hear that Lady Kim is really unhappy right now. And to be honest, the Mate isn't any happier because he was about to get married. How about we give her a few minutes to cool off before you send us back? In the meantime, can we see my teammate Carlynn?"

"We were never formally introduced, Master Stoppable", said the woman wearing the necklace, giving him a small nod of acknowledgment, "I am Freya. I want to talk to you about ceasing this conflict between you and some of the people of Asgard. I apologize for the apparent poor timing of your, uh, invitation, shall we call it?"

Ron blew out a breath trying to release his frustration. Freya was the Queen of Asgard as far as he knew and while he was done with Kim being messed with, he seemed to recall that Kim seemed to count Freya as one of the good guys. Wanda, like every other member of Team Cobra, was a good person to have at your back, but she wasn't Kim and Kim was the expert on all this Asgard crap. On the other hand, Kim really needed a break from the inherent Asgard stupidity so prevalent in that realm. And, should push-come-to-shove, Ron figured that he could at least talk about a truce. But first…

"I would like to see my teammate, Carlynn, please. I was told that she was wounded and was being taken care of by the Valkyries," Ron said, looking at the healer who suddenly looked flustered, "I broke a major code of conduct leaving her behind and I need to see about making amends."

"Your teammate," the healer said, "is currently missing." Seeing that Ron was starting to look upset, she quickly continued, "We do not believe it is due to evil intent, she is ambulatory and had gone for a walk to stretch her legs. Her arm is in a brace and it will shortly start to hurt as her healing herbs wear off. We expect her to return because of the pain."

"Heimdallr, can you see where she is?" asked Ron.

"I am having problems with far-seeing. I have tried, but cannot see her," replied the pale watcher regretfully.

"While you are waiting for your friend to return," said the Queen of Asgard, "come and meet with me and my husband Odin, and we will work out an agreement to prevent future conflict." A chariot drawn by two ordinary house cats pulled up beside them. "Perhaps your companion should go with Eir and wait for your teammate to show up?"

"Ron-sama," Wanda, believing that these people's perception of Ron's status was important, bowed to Ron saying, "do you wish for me to accompany you or locate Miss Carlynn?"

"Please go with the healer, Eir," said Ron who thought that Wanda might be overdoing it, "you might need to help search for her. I hope she has just gotten lost playing tourist."

Freya stepped up on the small chariot with Ron following to stand beside her. Rufus rode easily on his friend's shoulder, flashing wary blue glowing eyes at the two cats that looked back at him with blatant disinterest. A glowing portal opened in response to a motion of her hand and the two cats easily pulled the chariot through the opening. Wanda saw the goddess's hand reach around behind Ron as if to steady him, and as the portal closed behind the little chariot and its passengers, she saw the hand wander lower and seem to come to rest on Ron's butt.

'I hope otouto-chan is able to withstand almost certain temptation,' thought Wanda as she followed the pale watcher and the healer into the gate leading into Asgard castle. (otouto-chan is an affectionate term for 'little brother')

 _ **Future Problems**_

Dr. Beechman walked up to the young woman with shreds of white fabric at her feet, now dressed in full armor and holding a hammer that she would spin occasionally. She had stopped screaming curses at the sky and was rapidly calming down. One of her friends was talking to her, something about how it was only a dress and they'd get Ron back.

Her family was talking to a young blonde with electric blue eyes, wearing jeans, and a tee shirt that said, "This Is Not My First Rodeo". Standing over her like a bodyguard was a huge man that looked straight off of a Viking movie set.

"Kimberly, can I speak to you for a moment, please?" the doctor said, "Come with me to the shuttle, this should be a private discussion." The doctor walked off the porch heading for the shuttle. Kim blew out a breath making a conscious effort to totally calm down and followed.

They climbed into the shuttle while the green-eyed redhead grumbled about 'another lonely night', said hello to the crew manning the watch, and walked back into the aft med bay. The doctor closed the door behind them.

"Kimberly, I was going over the scans with Dr. Paksmonga and I want to talk to you about a problem you are going to have."

"A problem I am going to have? You are a prophet too?"

"What?"

Kim sighed, took off her helmet and said, "I'm sorry, it's just that things finally turned around for me. Or so I thought. I got Ron to agree to marry me, the paperwork is done, the judge is here, and before we even got to the 'You may now seal this union with a kiss' part, an idiot Norse god yanks him away from me."

"I'm sure he'll be back soon. That girl that ran up to him and kissed him? It definitely looked like he was the kissee and not the kisser."

"Been there, done that already. No, that was a little prank I pulled that came back to bite me. He'll be back, hopefully without racking up a body count."

"A body count _?_ "

"Never mind that, what is the problem that you see me having."

"The night after you get got married, you will probably want to consummate the marriage, right?"

"Well…"

"I can't tell whether or not you have ever gone 'all the way' with anyone and it's not any of my business…"

"I haven't" the redhead interrupted.

"You have recently been injured and have been told 'no physical relations' until the webbing used in your healing has dissolved, right?" the doctor pressed on.

"Yes, but I…" Kim was starting to see where this conversation was headed.

"Can I tell you what will probably happen?" Skyler interrupted the younger woman.

"OK," the redhead sighed.

"You are either going to flat out lie to Ronald and tell him pressing those spots doesn't hurt or you're going to convince him that it will only hurt a little, so it's OK. You will be expecting pain; your muscles will be tight and Ron is going to hurt you when he tries to slide inside you. The two of you are going to be enthusiastic and it's going to tear those strands free. The result will be, in a physician's technical term, a lousy lay. At the end of it, you're going to be in considerable pain and won't be up for round two… or maybe even finishing round one. Ronald will feel horrible for hurting you… and if I understand the situation, the two of you already have some serious issues with hurting people. Bottom line up front, the two of you are going to start this aspect of your relationship on a very sour note.

"So, what should I do, put off these activities?" the young woman sounded discouraged.

"No, I worry that you are just putting off the problem. The healer that fixed you isn't here to ask, but I think the webs aren't dissolving like they are supposed to. I have an idea that you might want to try. Have your new husband help. Have him go nice and slow and use his fingers to press around inside you to pull loose or break the remaining strands. Lots of lubrication. I suggest two or three glasses of wine, but not the whole bottle. Make sure he stimulates other parts to help with the pain. Did I mention lots of lubrication?"

"Ron's not here and I was kinda, well, you know, wanting the next time we are intimate to be more leaping than loitering if you know what I mean."

"I understand what you mean. Hmm, perhaps you can take advantage of this delay. Got any close friends that you trust?"

"Eww, not any of the friends I trust are that close," she said imagining herself her sitting in a large, overstuffed chair along with Monique who was holding her and passionately kissing her with Yori kneeling between her legs and using her hands to…

"Then get the wine and a toy and do it yourself," The doctor said. When Kim looked a little uncomfortable, she added, "It is your body, after all, you can touch it. If you take it slow and careful, you'll keep any tearing minor and you should be all healed up by the time you're ready to take care of the main course."

"Thanks, Doctor, I'll think about it."

 _ **Odin**_

Exiting the portal, the cats pulled the chariot up to the steps of a little cottage. Freya stepped down and unharnessed the cats who, ignoring Rufus's glare, trotted off to a large, nearby longhouse that had armed and armored men coming in and out. Several of them gave friendly waves of greeting.

Following the goddess into the cottage, Ron saw an older looking man standing at an iron cookstove. The center section that was normally a griddle, had been removed and the man was preparing a pile of wood coals with a platter stacked with kabobs next to him. Ron knew that appearances had almost nothing to do with real age in Asgard. He assumed that both of his hosts were about the same age, but Freya looked like a woman in her late twenties, maybe thirty while this man looked like he was at least in his sixties after living a hard life that had taken a physical toll on a once robust and strong body.

"Master Stoppable!" the man turned and wiping his hands on a towel, held one out in greeting, "I am Odin. I have been looking forward to meeting with you in person. I had heard much about you even before the Thing and the unfortunate duel with my son Loki." Sadness flashed across his one eye as two large ravens standing on a nearby table squawked out a greeting. They were Huginn and Muninn, the ravens that had reported at the Thing on what had happened to Kim.

The young blonde took the offered hand in a firm handshake and nodded a greeting to the two ravens. What did you say to the man whose son you killed by ripping out his heart and then danced in celebration afterward over the bloody body? 'Sorry about that' just didn't seem appropriate somehow.

"I have been a seeker of knowledge all my life," the god gestured to the patch over his missing eye and continued, "Sometimes knowledge comes at a high price. I noticed the artistry that you can provide when preparing food. I am hoping that you would teach me some of your art," adding with a grin, "at a reasonable price."

"Sure," the master of all things food replied, "I'd be happy to share my knowledge freely," then, because he was slowly learning to watch what he promised, he added, "at least what I have time to show you, I have other commitments on my time that I must honor."

Odin explained that the kabobs were Midgard food that Huginn and Muninn had shown him and seemed to be simple enough to try. Ron checked the kabobs and finding that they weren't marinated in anything, set about showing his grizzled student how to make a couple of sauces to brush on them as they grilled. Rufus chattered away with recommendations on Asgardian spices based on their smell. Soon the three had a reasonably authentic Diablo sauce, plus a spicy Indian style curry.

Freya stood to the side watching the two working together with amusement and, if she was fair to herself, some longing. She imagined that instead of Ron, it was her child cooking alongside the love of her life. She was pondering having Ron leave her with a child when she noticed the tattoo on his forearm. More exactly, she noticed the tattoo form of the magic imbued little string bracelet that Lady Kim wore. Because of that, she would not be able to cast a seduction enchantment that would affect him and she did not think his red-haired fury of a Mate was the sharing type.

She pondered unofficially adopting both Midgardian teens. They were mortals and would grow old and die all too soon and that would be sad, but maybe they and their children would be worthy guests for a time.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the naked rat thing rattling around in a cabinet of spirits. (The liquor kind) Going over to see what it was doing, it soon had her slicing fruit and adding the slices to a pitcher along with a couple of types of liquors and a bottle of red wine. She thought that the small hairless pink creature called the drink 'Sangria'.

The meal was pleasant with Ron being asked to tell the pair about his experiences at his university. They seemed particularly interested in the Sorority. The concept of a group of people living in a house bound together by fellowship for a common purpose reminded them of their warriors living in great longhouses in Valhalla and Sessrumnir.

After dinner was finished and the remains cleared away, they sat sipping Rufus's attempt at Sangria. Ron thought it was a little sweet, but their hosts, used to drinking mead, thought it was perfect.

Odin got down to business, "Even though I understand your motivations and hold you blameless for the direct loss of Asgard's two strongest defenders, you did cause their loss, so I am asking that you and Lady Kim assist with the defense of Asgard should the need arise."

"Are you offering Kim and me immortality?" Ron still thought that they were fools not to make his KP a goddess.

"No. Bestowing immortality isn't as simple as I fear Loki made it sound."

"Then for how long do you expect this agreement to last? Kim and I won't live forever. In fact, if we start a family, I will be unable to fight alongside your warriors even sooner. Kim may never fight again, the death and destruction she was involved with have sickened her soul."

"We expect Lady Kim can help us avoid fighting by helping us settle conflicts peacefully. I expect that as our Loki and Thor's replacements get proper training, the need for you and your Mate will rapidly fall off."

"Replacements? You have other sons?"

"Something like that," interjected Freya, "Three men, all carefully selected, are wooing Sigyn at the moment. Sigyn took the loss of Loki harder than we thought. She told me that she instigated the attacks on you and yours in the hope that you would kill her."

"Me? Kill her?" Ron was horrified.

"Yes, she thought death at your hand was her best chance at joining Loki in the afterlife. We truly hope that these young men will replace Loki in her heart."

Ron thought that setting up a male harem for the grieving widow sounded a little excessive, but if it kept him from having to kill the woman, then OK. Something from a Barkin history lecture popped into his mind. "Does the offer of assistance work both ways? That is if Midgard is in trouble, can we rely on your assistance?"

"Absolutely!" Odin slapped his hand on the table, "We have shirked our duty as protectors of the realms for too long."

Freya looked at her husband. She knew that Asgard had never taken its duty as protector of the realms seriously. But now with the threat of Ragnarok nearly gone thanks mostly to these two young Midgardian teens, maybe they could actually have a purpose they would be proud of.

"Come with us. We must introduce you to the Captains and Senior Sergeants and tell them of this agreement," the one-eyed man rose and beckoned him to follow.

"Uh, I'm not sure I can speak for Midgard," the young blond was nearly in a panic. Things were moving too fast.

"That you speak for yourself is sufficient for now. Surely your Mate will backup whatever you decide and Lady Kim has great honor here," she said, standing and joining her husband, "Perhaps we should stop at the armory for clothing that makes you look more like a Champion of Asgard before we meet with the Captains and all."

 _ **At the NOPE house**_

"I was visited by Mom in a dream last night," the young Asgardian blonde told Kim at breakfast, "Your Ronald is working on a Non-aggression pact with mutual support for defense with the Captains of both Valhalla and Sessrumnir. Carlynn was trapped in my old quarters for a day. Apparently, there is a story there to tell, but Mom wasn't telling. She said to expect them home in five days. Heimdallr is nearly recovered, but if he is still not totally healed by then, they will bring them home themselves."

"They?" asked Kim.

"Mom and Dad, that is Freya and Odin."

"Was there any news of Wanda?" asked Suzie.

"Yes, apparently she has a group of fighters taking lessons from her on 'How to woo women'"

Suzie snorted in amusement.

"I'm not sure Ronald is up to negotiating treaties with other worlds, Kimmie," said Ann finishing the last bite of her waffles. They were eating breakfast at the NOPE house. Jessica had suggested that Kim and Ron hold their wedding there and after a couple of calls back to the NOPE house, it was a done deal.

"He'll be fine, Mom and since he has no authority, it's not like he could commit the Earth to anything," Kim replied standing up.

The house was designed with ten-foot ceilings as part of the architect's 'Grand Design'. Paksmason had been negotiating with NOPE's parent organization to lease at least part of the house for Lowardian diplomats for a small diplomatic mission, adding an extra wing on the house. At the very least, these negotiations gave an excuse to house a few Lowardian security personnel on site. Convenient to give the wedding a little extra security.

"What's on the schedule for today, dear?"

"Monique, a bunch of Ron's sisters and I are going out to look for another dress and have lunch somewhere."

"Mrs. Dr. Possible?", Mercedes, the house 'President' walked up with an armload of what appeared to be wedding magazines, "When you are finished with breakfast, we have some ideas for the wedding decorations and such we would like to go over with you."

Kim laughed, pulling Monique to her feet, "Have fun Mom," and headed out the door.

* * *

Kim walked down the steps from the kitchen into 'Ron's Lair'. She dropped her backpack by the bed and opened a door, looking for the bathroom. She found a double sink, a toilet in a stall and some shelves with towels and such.

Checking the other door, she found more shelving, a bench and in place of a shower, a small, very deep tub. Looking in the tub, she saw a built-in seat. 'Sweet!' she thought, 'A soaking tub.' She was tired from the massive quest she had been dragged all over town looking for a nice dress to get married in.

Several of Ron's NOPE sisters were pushing for a traditional wedding dress, and she did have access to some money from the gold they brought back, but she was set on a simple wedding. To her surprise, Monique had her back. Still, a simple, but elegant white dress had been an elusive quarry that had taken them several hours to track down. Shoes and accessories took another hour and then they took a break for a late lunch.

Crystal had joined the pack of hunters, so she knew her and Jessica, the rest of the girls were friendly and several had classes with Ron. With her Ron. Ron came up several times during lunch and she felt a mixture of jealousy and regret that these girls were sharing Ron's life, at least a little part of it, but she hadn't. She was trying to be friendly to everyone, after all, they all seemed to be nice women and it was mostly her decision that she had not been here.

Classes didn't start up until next week, so Monique was bunking with Jessica as her roommate wasn't back from winter vacation yet. Several of the girls seemed oddly concerned about her sleeping alone in Ron's bedroom but were happy once Kim agreed to let Bishop monitor her for nightmares. That triggered another brief flare of jealousy when she realized the NOPE women came into Ron's room late at night when he was having a nightmare.

She pulled a carafe and a plastic glass from a sack that Pavlina had given her saying that it was what the doctor ordered. There was a big, fluffy bathrobe hanging on the door, so she closed the door, stripped down and showered off the sweat from the day's hunt then closed the drain and turned on the water. She had found a container of 'Smarty Mart Assorted Aromatherapy' bath beads. She selected a pair of gold ones that were described as "Relaxing Lavender & Vanilla" and dropped them in. The tub had a built-in heater, she set the controls to one hundred degrees figuring that she could raise it a degree or two later. The soaking tub was small but deep, so it filled in a few minutes and the smaller amount of water it needed soothed her ecological soul. Not being a tall person, the water quickly rose up to her shoulders and the water automatically turned off.

Examining the carafe, she saw fruit slices and smelled the aroma of wine and maybe brandy. Pouring a glassful, she thought it tasted pretty good. Relaxing in the hot water, she took another sip then raised her right hand.

'Lotus Blade, come, I need you,' she thought. She had been too embarrassed to buy a 'toy' like Dr. Beechman had suggested. She remembered how Ron had told her that the blade was intelligent and that it didn't like him very much and teased him every chance it got. Then there was the time where, without being commanded, the Lotus Blade had transformed itself into gloves and a breathing tube to help her save Ron after the neurotoxin attack. She should be able to transform it into the shape of a rod of the desired thickness, right?

Taking another sip from the plastic glass, she realized her mistake. She was inside the house. The Lotus Blade was outside. The Blade was coming here. Holding her hand back up, she amended her request, 'Come, but don't break through walls or windows getting here.'

* * *

"I'm coming, I'm coming, keep your shirt on…" Lyndsey Winchell muttered as she strode to the front door and opened it to see who was tapping on it. Tapping continuously and loudly. She was surprised to find a floating, gently glowing sword softly bobbing up and down. On its pedestal by the door, the special globe that the girl from Yamanouchi had left them to bleed off any unwanted MMP flickered with multicolored lighting dancing in the swirling dust.

"Rhianna!" the dark girl bellowed, "Some thing's at the door for you!"

* * *

She closed her eyes and stretched out her senses as much as she could. The Blade was coming but had slowed down. She thought the Blade was in the house, but she didn't hear any crashing or breakage. Presently there was a knock on the door and it opened a crack. The Lotus Blade slipped through the crack and slapped against the dark gray pseudo-skin of her right hand.

"Ooh, steamy. Kim, are you OK?" it sounded like Ron's half-sister, Rhianna.

"Yes, I did call the Lotus Blade, but I'm OK."

"Need anything? A brandy perhaps?"

"No, Rhi, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Some warm milk to help you relax?"

"No… Thank you very much but no thanks."

"Ovaltine?"

"NOTHING! Thank you, but I'm all… set."

"Then I will say… Goodnight Herr Doctor."

"Goodnight, Frau Blücher."

Rhianna shut the door laughing in delight and making horse whinnying noises. Kim laughed, convinced that this was indeed Ron's sister. Kim heard her tromp loudly up the stairs and close the door to the kitchen.

"So you are going to take an ancient and arcane mystical weapon and stick it up your hoo-ha?" A wet and bedraggled kittieconda was wrapped around her wrist. Shaking itself, it immediately became dry and fluffy.

"My _hoo-ha_? Really? Is 'hoo-ha' an ancient Chinese word?" Kim snickered and then asked, "Wait, how can you be here? Ron is so far away that I can't contact him with MMP."

"We are your avatar, not his. Sort of like how a cellphone still exists even when there is no tower in range. We will fade out as you run out of stored MMP. Anyway, we can help the Lotus Blade do what you need it to do."

"Really, you can talk to it?"

"It's not much of a conversationalist, but it understands more than most mystical warriors give it credit for."

"And you know what I need it to do because…" Kim prompted.

"We saw the scans when they checked your health and later heard what the doctor told you. Plus we have access to the memories of every MMP charged person while they were charged since the Jade statues were created. We have several ideas of what toy shapes you might find pleasing."

"It's not about my pleasure, it's about not making Ron hurt me."

"You can simply tell Ron to stop hurting you. Or if that isn't sufficient, simply take the Lotus Blade, turn it into a club and beat on him."

"No, the problem is that those stupid webs they used to help heal me will cause me pain if Ron and I do something that we both really, really want to do. The idea is for me to take the pain now when Ron isn't here, so it doesn't interfere with our enjoyment when we are together later. Pleasuring myself alone seems a little selfish."

"Pleasure will help balance the pain, Kimberly. A human can tolerate more pain when they are being pleasured. We understand that you also want the pain as a penance for the hurt you have done others, but we will not let you endure just pain. You don't deserve to be punished for the hurt you did the giants. You were defending."

"Yeah, defending something that didn't matter," some bitterness bled into her voice. The Lotus Blade vibrated as it changed shape… and kept vibrating and undulating.

"What the heck?" Kim looked at the strange shape with apprehension. "How many holes do you think I… Oh…"

"Now that is a 'toy'," the kittieconda purred, "Trust us. You will find it interesting and enjoyable."

The Lotus Toy suddenly became too slippery to hold and sliding from her grip, it fell into the water and sank onto her lap.

* * *

"C'mon K, let me help you out of there before you turn total prune," Jessica sniffed the contents of the carafe, "K, you idiot, you're not supposed to drink alcohol and soak in a hot tub, especially not Pavlina's sangria."

"I'm not intoxicated and Bishop cooled off the water when he saw what I was drinking." Kim looked up with some defiance in her eyes.

Looking at her former captain's puffy eyes as she helped her stand and step out of the tub, she asked, "K, you've been crying?! Bishop! What's wrong with you! Why didn't you call one of us!"

"My analysis showed Ms. Possible was in a cathartic state and her crying was releasing pent-up negative emotions. Had it continued, I would have alerted you or Ms. Pimm," the robotic voice replied.

"K, listen to me. You are not alone here. If you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, I'm here, Rhi takes being Ron's sister very seriously, you could tell her anything and she wouldn't spill. Now relax and let big sis take care of you."

"You're not my big…"

"19 days older, K. Check the old roster if you don't believe me.

Kim submitted to Jessica's ministrations. Soon dried, moisturized, and fluffy, she was dressed in sweatpants and one of Ron's jerseys, all while Jessica kept up a mindless chatter talking about the sisters living in the house and their antics, chatter to keep her distracted. Padding into the room she told Jessica that she wanted a nap before dinner. The pizza was scheduled to arrive in forty-five minutes, Jessica told her that someone would be down to fetch her when they were delivered.

Kim stretched out on Ron's bed, happy to finally be alone. The Lotus Blade was around somewhere close, ready to be called. The Lotus 'Toy' needed little direction from her as vibrating pseudopods pressed in the right places to pull stuck spiderweb strands loose and stimulated other places to provide pleasure to counteract the pain. The resulting combination of pain and the pleasure had nearly overloaded her with sensation for what seemed almost forever, then the pain disappeared with the last of the spiderweb adhesions and finally, the remaining pleasure intensified until she was pushed over the edge into orgasm with massive releases both physical and emotional. She had burst into sobbing tears while her body reverberated with aftershocks of pleasure. She did feel much better now, relaxed and emotionally flushed of guilt and sorrow. Clutching Ron's pillow tightly and believing that she could smell him, she drifted into a sound and relaxed sleep.

 _ **Wanda on the Loose**_

Wanda had been talking to shopkeepers and people she met in the hallways all damned day as she talked to warriors in the feasting halls for clues as to Carlynn's whereabouts. Getting hit on more often than she got any useful information from the warriors, she casually wondered how they'd hold up to an overnight drinking session. But, when she wasn't getting hit on, she was getting complaints about how 'Lady Kim's Mate' had messed up their relationships with their favorite Valkyries because of 'dancing and playing _Skeeball!_ '.

Wanda was jet-lagged, tired, frustrated, and starting to get cranky. Ron was off somewhere meeting with the boss gods or something. This castle was the size of a small city. Maybe she could put some of these guys to work helping her.

"I cannot help you with dancing and I do not know what this Skeeball is, but I will teach you what your Valkyrie wants if you can help me find this person," Wanda offered in annoyance.

"Done!" declared a burly Viking, "But how do we know that you know these secrets?"

"Pick a Valkyrie, I will 'pick them up' as you say. If I can leave this room with her, then you and your friends will look for our missing friend Carlynn. If you find her, then I will instruct you on 'What a Valkyrie Wants' tomorrow. Agreed?"

The Ninja and the group of fighters huddled together and she told her what she knew of Carlynn, which was mostly just that she was a young woman, lightly dressed with bandages and had a healer's brace on her hand. There was no suspicion of foul play and she should be in pain which is why they needed to find her and return her to Eir and the healers.

The fighters then pointed out a young-looking Valkyrie as the test for Wanda. They watched in fascination as she walked up to Bjort, a Valkyrie known to be attracted only to the largest, strongest, and boldest of male warriors. She introduced herself, the two talked for a while, then the ninja stood up, held out her hand to the Valkyrie and the pair walked out laughing and chatting.

* * *

Ron opened the door to the small set of rooms assigned to him and went in. It was late, he was tired and he hadn't seen Wanda to ask her if Carlynn had been located. There was a note on the door that read 'tachi-iri kinshi'. Since that was Japanese for "Keep Out", he figured that Wanda had taken the bedroom. Not a problem, the one thing that Asgard had was very comfortable couches for sleeping.

Unbuckling the ceremonial 'Asgardian Champion' light armor Freya and Odin had insisted he wear for meeting with their Captains, he neatly stacked it on a chair setting his boots and a short sword beside it. Clad only in light cotton pants and shirt, he pulled a comforter off of a shelf and lay down to get some sleep. He had been lucky that today's meetings were all talking, he suspected that tomorrow might find him sparring.

* * *

Ron woke to pounding on the door, "Miss Wanda! We have found her! Miss Wanda!"

Quickly getting up, slipping his boots on and pulling a piece of wire from its resting place behind his ear, he saw Wanda open the bedroom door and step out adjusting her white urban stealth uniform, securing the weapons she carried concealed.

The door opened and a tall, scarred Viking led a small group into the room. The group froze with a look of awe on their faces as they looked past Wanda.

Behind the Ninja, a sleepy Bjort stumbled out, pulling on clothes.

"Where is she now? How badly is she hurting?" asked the healer.

"She is being taken to the main infirmary. She was in considerable pain," was the reply.

The healer closed her eyes for a long moment. Giving Wanda a quick peck on the cheek, she said, "Eir is at Sessrumnir. I can get to the infirmary faster than she can. Later!" and raced out the door.

Stricken with awe, the leader of the group fell to his knees crying out, "Great and wise Volva, teach us the secrets as you promised!"

"Find a room where I can hold a class, perhaps after the noontime meal. And a more accurate term would be Sensei, not Volva. I do have knowledge to share with you, but I do not fight with magic," she flourished a Wakizashi and continued, "I fight with steel."

Ron watched in bewilderment as her newly minted Viking Love-Apprentices lifted Wanda to their shoulders and was carried out the door by cheering, enthusiastic warriors. Warriors apparently taking her off to breakfast?

—

It took a couple of false turns, but before too long, Ron found himself in front of the main healing infirmary. Peeking in, he spotted Carlynn being doted on by a young girl. Knocking on the doorframe, he stepped in.

"Hi, Carlynn. I'm so sorry that I left you behind."

"That's OK, Ron, Heimdallr told me that it wasn't your choice. Uh, do you have a brother? Twin brother maybe?"

Ron noticed that both of them were looking at him strangely. "No, not that I know of. 'Course I just found out about a half-sister, so who knows? Why do you ask?"

"I just met someone who I mistook for you at first," replied Carlynn, "at least until I noticed he was clean shaven and had no tattoo."

"Please, sir, is Lady Kim with you?" asked the young girl.

"No, Heimdallr made a mistake and only brought me and another person up here."

"Oh," the girl looked crestfallen, "I wanted to thank her for giving me Justice." At Ron's puzzled look, she continued, "I was the warrior she gave Justice to. She gave me the life I was meant to have."

Seeing that Ron still looked confused, Carlynn explained, "Amdis had the mind and soul of a girl but was trapped in a man's body. By transforming her into the body she was meant to have, Kim's gift is allowing her to lead the life she always wanted."

Ron nodded politely, although he would not fully understand until he had time to think about it later. "Miss Amdis, I will give KP your thanks and I know she will be pleased that she helped you."

"Master Stoppable," said a voice from behind him. Eir had bustled in and was all business. Looking into his eyes, she commanded, "Go find the dining hall and get some food. Then take a nap, your fatigue shows in your eyes. By that time, I will have treated your friend's wounds to remove scarring and she will be able to chat with you."

Ron had seen Mrs. Dr. P in such a mood so he simply replied, "Yes, ma'am, See you later Carlynn. Nice to meet you Amdis."

As he left the room, Carlynn called out, "If you run into someone that looks just like you but is much nicer, his name is Sigbjorn. Don't hurt him!"

'Damn,", Ron muttered to himself, "I wonder if Drakken has been messing around with clones again. I might have to warn them to stay away from sodas."

* * *

As instructed, Ron had eaten breakfast, taken a much-needed nap and now walked down the hall on his way to check on Carlynn when he heard Wanda talking. No, not just talking. Lecturing. Using his best Ninja stealth, he slipped up to the open door of what was a large meeting room and peeked in.

"Now let me see if you have been paying attention or just looking at my butt all this time." Wanda was wearing her white daytime stealth Ninja garb, adjusted to display the young woman's curves to their best effect. Ron idly wondered where she got it. She was dressed in black when they were picked up by the Bifrost.

She walked to the side of the end of the briefing room and sauntered back to the center, "Honey, do I look fat in this clothing?" Pointing into the crowd of seated warriors with looks of total concentration on their grim faces, she barked out, "Haldane, what is your answer?"

"You look just fine…honey?"

Wanda theatrically groaned, "No! Ivar, what is your answer?"

"You are beautiful!"

"Yes! Remember those three words. They are the only words you may use when your Valkyrie, or any woman really, asks anything about how she looks. Clothes do not make her beautiful. She does not **look** beautiful. She **is** beautiful."

Wanda clutched her chest and wailed, "I hate my boobs! They are too small!" This time many hands shot up.

"Yes, Roland?"

"I love your boobs!"

"Correct! Remember that you love your Valkyrie and her body is the vessel that carries her intelligence, her wit, and an abundance of love that she might share with you if she believes that you appreciate her and are attracted to her as a person. Many of the Valkyries are the result of cultures that told them that only a certain type of body was beautiful, and any deviation from their ridiculous standard makes them ordinary instead of beautiful," Wanda swept her gaze over her students, "In summary, if she asks you how she looks, you tell her that she is beautiful, if she complains about how some part of her body is less than perfect, you tell her that you love that part. Yes, Ivan?"

"Miss Wanda-sensei, I'm having a problem understanding the difference."

"Remember that no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. The goal here is to tell her truthfully that her beauty is what you see no matter what her society has taught her and that you love every part of her no matter what anyone else thinks of that part."

"I have a warning here, this is important, so pay attention. When you tell her these things, she might suspect you of lying. Her spirit and self-image might be that damaged. You must believe what you tell her in your heart and then stick to your story. Even if she throws sharp objects at you."

"Now, let's review about how Valkyries want to be appreciated. Recall that in my barbarian colleague's culture, the word 'appreciate' means 'be thankful for'. Like 'I appreciate you bringing me that glass of mead'. But in more refined cultures like yours and mine it also means 'to fully understand something and know its true worth'," she produced a wakizashi holding it up. "I can appreciate this sword because I know how it was carefully made, I can see its nearly flawless steel, and I know its proud history of being used to defend people from bandits and on one occasion, tyranny. You must appreciate your Valkyrie in both ways"

"But I thought that closely examining them was the end goal?" one of her students asked to general laughter from the group.

Wanda looked heavenward for patience. "It may be, Thorvald, but in this case, you are required to talk to them, to both let them know that you are thankful for them as well as ask them questions to find out why they do things that surprise or confuse you. And you must ask them in a polite and loving fashion. In fact, asking them about themselves indicates to them that you care about the real Valkyrie, not just the image that they show the world."

"Now that is the end of today's talk. I will be here tomorrow at the same time to talk about what Valkyries want in terms of physical affection."

The young sensei bowed and then raised her fist in the air crying out, "Ganbatte!" (Do your best!)

The rough, hard men in the room stood and repeated her battle cry, shouting "Ganbatte!" and raising a fist in the air.

Ron stepped back from the door as the upbeat men streamed out of the classroom.

"That was a really nice job, Sensei," he greeted her as she came out of the now empty room.

"You honor me with your praise, otouto-chan," replied Wanda who might have blushed a bit. "It was merely principles taught in my Bo-ryaku and Cho Ho classes. Were you able to check on your friend?"

"Yes, I saw her briefly but was told to leave and come back later, I think they wanted to treat her or something that needed privacy. Wanda, about this morning?", he said in a voice becoming hesitant at the end.

"Yes?"

"You slept with a Valkyrie healer last night?"

"Yes."

Ron tried to think of a second question to ask but was rapidly coming to the conclusion that he was talking himself into getting a beat down and should just shut up.

"Ah, so, I misunderstood. Are you asking me whether I am a lesbian or bisexual? Or are you asking me if I allowed pleasure to interfere with my duty?" she glared at Ron.

"Uh, no, actually it's none of my business, sorry…" Ron's voice held a trace of panic.

"Ron-chan," she decided to only tease him a little, "The healer was in my bed because it allowed both of us to get some sleep and it was part of winning a bet that got others to hunt for Carlynn. As for what happened in that bed, that is not your business. I admit that I truly appreciate a penis if it is attached to a loving person who knows how to use it. Nothing in my training or culture teaches me that I should only kill men or only kill women. Why should there be a distinction between who I may pleasure with, ne?"

"Champion Stoppable?" Ron was saved from digging his hole any deeper when a man walked up to them wearing a uniform similar to one of the groups he had met with yesterday.

"Yes?" Ron thought that he might have heard Wanda snicker at the relief in his voice.

"Please come with me to the training grounds. The Captains wish to measure your skills."

"Wanda, could you drop in on Carlynn and see how she is doing? Tell her that I got stuck in a 'Meeting of cavemen'. Have her tell you how she got hurt. She is not a warrior and I don't think she even likes me that much, but she risked her life to save me and Kim."

"It would be my pleasure to visit your friend. I have heard that she has a most interesting opinion of you," replied Wanda.

Turning to the messenger, Ron asked, "I know where the training grounds are, they are by the main gate and Bifrost, right?" When the man nodded, he continued, "Would you please escort Wang-sensei to the main healer's infirmary?"

"It would be an honor, Champion Stoppable," was the reply. The messenger motioned for the Ninja to walk beside him. "Sensei, perhaps you could share your wisdom with me. I am seeing this woman in Sessrumnir. She seems to like me, but I think she wants me to be more aggressive in my physical actions with her. How can I balance showing her my desire for her physically without there being any mistake that I am not forcing my attentions on her?"

"That is a hard balance and one that you must work out with her. Communication will be important. Perhaps you need to add a bit of play to…" Ron heard Wanda counseling the man as they walked away.

Ron walked back to their rooms to dress in his armor and go see what these 'tests' were. He really hoped that they didn't require him to spill blood.

* * *

"… so, I should pretend to be a warrior driven mad by desire and lust and about to ravage the beautiful maiden?"

"Exactly. Your act should be convincing enough for your lady to feel a little danger, but the instant you see that she becomes truly worried or scared you must back off immediately until she again feels safe," said Wanda the 'Love Sensei'. Thinking it was probably too advanced a topic she continued anyway, "Some couples agreed on a word to say when one is scared or uncomfortable. A word like 'artichoke hearts'. This way you may act as if you are driven insane with lust and desire but she knows that if she says the special safe word that you will stop."

"Thank you, Sensei. Here is the main healer's infirmary. Hmm. artichoke hearts…"

"My pleasure, Ander. Thank you for showing me the way." Wanda gave a short bow and stepped into the room. She saw Eir bandaging a man's hand and a young woman sitting on a table with a still younger girl doing something to the brace on her arm. An electric wave of apprehension ran down her body as she looked closely at the blonde-haired young man standing in front of the two.

"Are you Carlynn?" she asked, reaching for her wakizashi.

"Yes, I'm Carlynn, are you a friend of…" Carlynn momentarily froze when she saw the white-clad warrior draw a short, curved sword, "Wait! I can explain! This is Sigbjorn! Not Ron!"

Wanda settled into a balanced attack posture. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man slowly reaching a bandaged hand towards a massive axe leaning against the table. Directly in front of her was Ron Stoppable. Clean shaven, no tattoo on the arm; that made her believe it wasn't really Ron. But what kept her from relaxing was that Ron's doppelganger had just dropped into a basic Tai Sheng Pek Kwar defensive stance.

Carlynn struggled to untangle herself from her sheets. Sliding unsteadily to the ground, she got between Wanda and Sigbjorn, not easy to do as the young blonde was set on protecting her.

"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" Carlynn glared at Wanda and even turned her glare on the warrior who had been reaching for his weapon. She continued in a quieter voice, "This is Sigbjorn, he has been nothing but kind and taken care of me since we met."

"Carlynn-san," Wanda gritted out, "This man looks too close to Ron-sensei to be a coincidence. He even seems to know Tai Sheng Pek Kwar, look at his stance."

"Where is Ron? Let's ask him. His MMP should be able to quickly get to the bottom of this," Carlynn struggled against the blonde who kept trying to shield his new love with his body against the crazy woman in white.

"He's down at the training field talking to the Captains," Wanda recalled.

The warrior picked up his axe and sheathed it appearing to ignore the Ninja and her drawn sword. "My thanks, Eir," he boomed flexing his bandaged hand, "Shall I escort these folk to the training field to check with Champion Stoppable?"

"Please do," replied the senior healer, "perhaps you can help them figure this out without giving me more work to do."

 _ **Beep Beep Be Beep**_

"Beep Beep Be Beep" All conversation in the dining room stopped as the NOPE sisters watched Kim pull out her Kimmunicator.

"What's the sitch, Wade?" Just saying that made Kim feel more normal again.

"I'm seeing strange power grid fluctuations in the middle of nowhere in Kansas. It sort of reminds me of Drakken or Dementor fooling with the PDVI. The PDVI hasn't been reported as stolen, but nobody will admit that they have it. Drakken's working in Florida on crop control work, it's not him. Dementor was last seen in a lair on the Black Sea, but that report was a month ago."

"Wade, Ron's in Asgard and I'm kinda shaky, can GJ or Homeland Security check it out?"

"They both told me that security for the Lowardians has them overextended and to call them back if I have more proof. I know you'd be running solo, but could you go and check it out? I don't expect you to infiltrate anything, just look for suspicious stuff in the area. No fighting supervillains, just a quick peek."

Kim sighed, did this old fire horse have one more run in her? "Have you got me a ride, Wade?"

"It will be out front in 15."

"OK, You rock, Wade."

Running down to Ron's lair, she looked in the wardrobe and found a spare mission pack with her basic load. Double checking the load then grabbing it along with a small purse, she turned and nearly ran over Rhianna dressed in cargo pants and a long-sleeved black shirt. Dodging Kim, Rhianna reached in and grabbed Ron's mission pack. With flashing blue eyes, she looked at Kim saying, "Got your back, KP. Let's roll!"

 _ **The Test**_

Ron was surprised that today's test was not about how well he could fight, but how well he could train others. At first, he was disturbed to see Sigyn setting on a bench watching the training, but other than watching for treachery, he soon pushed her out of his mind.

He started by demonstrating unarmed styles of combat that he knew. His Aikido style was uninteresting to these men who liked their combat direct. Some were interested in Wing Chun and one of the Captains actually seemed to know it.

What really surprised him was how interested the warriors were by his Tai Sheng Pek Kwar. None of the Captains were familiar with it, but he was astonished at how fast two of the men seemed to pick it up. The men were wearing full contact sparring helmets and pads, so he really couldn't see their faces. Sigyn had wandered over to talk to a Captain and Ron found himself asked to concentrate on the two that were Tai Sheng Pek Kwar naturals.

Working with the two men was a pleasure. They quickly understood the moves he showed them and they spent the next thirty minutes or so working on a kata demonstrating basic moves.

The Captains declared the test to be complete and said that Ron would be welcome to come back any time to help with training.

Ron shook his students' hands, clapped them on the shoulder and told them well done. As he touched their shoulder, he checked for MMP affinity. They had none at all. 'Odd,' he thought, 'these two seem really familiar.'

Sigyn walked up to him. she said, "Champion Stoppable," she said with sadness in her eyes, "I regret taking any action against you or your mate. I was wrong to do it and I don't expect you to forgive me," she smiled a tight smile, "because I will never forgive you. But I swear that you or yours will never have anything to fear from me or mine from this day forth."

Ron gave a little bow and replied, "I am glad that you failed to have me kill you and that there will be peace between us. I hope that one day we all find forgiveness."

Sigyn nodded in reply. "May I introduce my intendeds to you, this is Sigurd and Sigmund. Sigurd, Sigmund, this is Mystical Monkey Master Stoppable also known as Champion of Asgard Stoppable."

Both men bowed low and pulled off their helmets showing a shock of blond hair.

"Ron! Ron! Tell your crazy Ninja that Sigbjorn is not a threat!" Carlynn was running across the plaza with a young blond man in tow. A very familiar looking blond man.


	20. New Brothers and Sidekicks

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and encouragement. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also), and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

Note: I am totally ignoring Frigga and going with Freya for both roles. That makes her the all-purpose Mother of Asgard - war, fertility, sensuality, nurturing, etc. Basically, she is taking care of Asgard while Odin is out doing Odin-Things.

 _ **The New Sidekick**_

'Just a simple recon,' Kim told herself as she stood on the sidewalk waiting for their ride to show up, 'no reason not to take Ron's sister on this mission.'

"Can I call you, 'KP'?" asked her new partner.

"How about we stick with 'Kim', OK, Rhi?", the redhead then explained, "The 'KP' thing is only for Ron."

"Sure thing, boss."

A club cab pickup with 'EGBT Plumbing' and a logo of a toilet with a water geyser coming out of the bowl pulled up.

"Wade Load said you girls need a ride? Toss your bags in the back and climb up to the front, the front seat on this behemoth sits three across easy.", the gray-haired lady called out from the driver's seat.

After tossing their packs in the back seat, Kim motioned for Rhianna to climb in first. Scooting over to the middle of the spacious bench seat, she buckled in, even finding a shoulder harness coming down from the ceiling.

"Nana! I didn't think you owed us any favors," Kim teased as she climbed up and buckled in. The pickup pulled away from the curb and started heading off-campus to pick up the interstate.

"Nana, this is Rhianna Pimm. Rhi, this is my grandmother, Amanda Possible."

"We met at your Uncle Slim's ranch, Kim. Hi, Nana, did you trade in your RV?"

"No dear, it's parked out at the Booth's place. I just thought I'd run out and give you girls a lift to the airfield."

"Wow, you mean we get to parachute on this mission?" chirped an excited Rhianna.

Kim blanched a little, she hadn't thought to ask Wade their travel details. She and Ron could handle pretty much anything. A night drop with a newbie was dangerous.

"No dear, just an airplane hop to Kansas."

"Oh, man," the newbie complained.

"Rhi," Nana asked, "all I heard was that you and your team checked Wade out of a facility 'without proper paperwork' and lawyers came in to prevent arrest warrants from being served on you all. Care to tell us what happened?"

"Well, not much to tell, Nova found out that Wade was in a secret facility near the Canadian border, her source of information was a bad guy who was trying to lure in Team Possible. So we go there really sneaky-like using animal disguises, slip past the guards and get to the building. We find a back door, I open it, we get Wade out of his cell and leave. Except for running into this stupid guard that shoots Antubi, we got out without a trace."

"Antubi was shot?" Kim asked, horrified.

"It was a flesh wound. Didn't even damage any muscle. Low-velocity pistol round. The problem was that their dogs tracked the blood scent. We manage to ditch the dogs, jump in the car and high tail it to a safe house. Along with the dogs, they sent a couple of drones after us. We believe they got good pictures of Nova and me before we knocked them down; that's what they were going to base the arrest warrants on. Of course, thanks to Nova, the faces on the pictures look like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, so even without the legal assistance, I think we were OK. That's pretty much it."

"Dear, you seem to be kind of skimpy on details. Was anybody else with you?"

"Well…"

"Fess up dear, you can trust Kimberly and me to keep secrets."

"Monk Warnatius came along with us."

"The Lowardian with the Dracula cape?" asked Kim.

"Yeah, that's the one. He's been teaching me a little magic since Dad's gone into hiding and can't do it."

Kim realized just how out of the loop she was. "Are you being hunted?"

The younger girl sighed, "No, nobody cares about me since Dad leaked a video of me all Mystical Monkey Powered up and fighting Ron. Now everyone thinks that I am adopted or something and not certainly not Homo magi."

"Homo magi?" asked Kim.

"The result of a breeding program for sorcerers and magic users. It's the Stormrider part of my and Ron's heritage."

"Nana, was this the Blue Heart Society?" asked Kim.

"I think it was someone working secretly behind the scenes, dear." Nana pulled onto a private airstrip and drove over to a twin-engine passenger plane. "We can talk later, here's your ride. When you get your bags, take the two gray backpacks too. Just in case. You both be careful and watch out for each other. I've got a bad feeling about this mission."

"Nana, should we cancel it?"

"No, it could just be from too much curry on last night's pizza. But still, pay attention."

"Curry on pizza?" the new sidekick pointed out, "Louisiana hot sauce is better."

"Sweetie, when you get back, we'll go to this Indian/Italian fusion place I know and order spicy butter chicken pizza, tell them that we aren't sissy Easterners, and we'll see how Indian curry heat compares to Louisiana heat."

"It's a date, Nana," chirped the new sidekick.

* * *

Unloading next to a small passenger plane, the pilot took their bags, and put them into a luggage compartment, except for Kim's small handbag which she insisted on keeping with her. Maybe it was Nana's warning or maybe it was being separated from Ron, but she was feeling uneasy by the time the plane took off. It didn't help when she noticed that there was a solid bulkhead between them and the pilots instead of a curtain. Also, the two gray backpacks now stored in the separate luggage compartment, the ones Nana had them take, were parachutes packed to look like ordinary, if a bit large, day packs.

"You girls just sit back and relax, we'll have you at your destination in about three hours. There are sodas in a cooler in the back if you get thirsty," a voice said over an intercom.

They flew for about an hour swapping stories about Ron when they decided to check with Wade to see if he had any information for them. Pulling out the Kimmunicator, the network connection lights were red - both GPS and comms. The jamming detected warning LED was flashing red. Kim pressed the Kimmunicator against the window, saying,

"Getting a GPS signal in an airplane is iffy, sometimes you get better satellite reception if you are near a window."

Her new sidekick moved closer and whispered, "should we plan on bailing out of this plane?"

Her team lead held up a finger, 'Wait.'

A cartoon of Wade appeared on the Kimmunicator screen, saying in a robotic voice, "Kim! I've been trying to reach you! We are connected using a low bit rate satellite laser, there is an RF jammer designed to interfere with Kimmunicator frequencies on the plane. It's so powerful, I can actually use it to track the plane. The plane is going the right direction, but the flight plan has it landing about an hour's flight past where you need to be. I haven't found out why yet."

The team lead replied, "We can smash through a bulkhead, grab our gear, and parachute out, but it will make a lot of noise and I hate for the crew to radio where they lost us."

"Oh! Oh! I can stop them from reporting! I can cut them off from communicating with anyone!" her new sidekick was practically vibrating with excitement.

"How can you do that?" asked her skeptical team lead.

"Watch this!" she got up from her seat and walking up to the bulkhead, she began to chant, "ecnelis fo elbbub noitalosi fo elbbub…". A silver tinted bubble appeared between her hands and grew until it was larger in diameter than the plane. Still chanting, she pushed it forward until it all but disappeared into the cockpit on the other side of the forward bulkhead.

"Now," she declared triumphantly, "The pilots are totally cut off. They can't radio ahead and tell anyone anything! Pretty cool, huh?"

Kim was about to be impressed when both turboprops on the plane started to sputter.

 _ **Meet the Brothers**_

Wanda uttered a common American swear phrase that had no Japanese counterpart. Chasing after Ron's obviously crazy Sorority Sister who was dragging the Doppelganger behind her, she saw a bewildered Mystical Monkey Master looking at them and Rufus racing toward the pair.

In her mind, she wasn't buying into the Champion of Asgard idiocy because she suspected that they were taking advantage of her otouto-chan's good nature. It didn't matter their respective ages, he would forever be her 'little' brother because, quite frankly, she believed the guy sometimes needed a keeper to keep him out of trouble.

She skidded to a stop when she saw two more Doppelgangers stand up straight behind him. 'Do I take out the threat in front first or the two in back?' she worried, sheathing her wakizashi and pulling out a sling and three glass marbles in one smooth motion. Deciding to trust Rufus to take care of the single Doppelganger, she moved to take care of the double threat.

"Ron! Behind you!" she screamed, loading a marble into her sling and taking a step forward.

To her astonishment, her Mystical Monkey Master little brother ignited with a bright flash of blue flame while reaching out with a black iron staff that had appeared from nowhere to block the speeding marble with a ringing sound. The iron staff turned to threaten the closest Doppelganger behind him, stopping it in its tracks. All without turning around.

The Monkey Master called out, "Onee-chan! Stop! I have sworn no violence against Sigyn and hers."

"Perhaps you would be so kind as to introduce me to these Doppelgangers of yours, So I will know who not to attack," she gritted out through clenched teeth.

"Doppelgangers?" the MMP Master finally turned to see the two men behind him. When he saw their faces, the blue flames covering his body sputtered and disappeared with a 'pop'.

Wanda put away her sling and drew her wakizashi. She had heard too many stories as a child about 'evil twins' to not have it ready in her hand. Quickly designating the evil twin with Carlynn as ET #1 and the other two as ET #2 and #3, she realized that while they were very, very close in appearance, she found ways to tell them apart. She saw that both Carlynn and ET #1 were surprised at the appearance of ET #2 and #3. Ron seemed to be surprised by the appearance of all three, but hadn't he just been sparring/training with #2 and #3? She had to have a talk about situational awareness with her otouto-chan.

"Please allow me,", a goddess stepped forward, "I am Lady Sigyn. This is Sigurd and Sigmund, my intendeds." She pointed to ET #2 and #3. Pointing at ET #1 standing protectively next to Carlynn, she continued with a sly smile, "that is Sigbjorn intended of Carlynn. Sig brothers, this is Wanda the Ninja assassin and teacher of Love; Ronald Stoppable the Mystical Monkey Master and a Champion of Asgard; and finally his teammate Carlynn."

Carlynn looked stunned, muttering, "Intended!? What the hell?" Turning to the young man she still had by the hand, she demanded, "Sigbjorn, what is she talking about?"

In response, the young man laughed then tried to brush off the naked mole rat on his shoulder saying, "He tickles."

Rufus scowled, as best as a mole rat can. This person smelled like his human and, from a test lick, tasted like his human, but was missing the MMP and even the place where the MMP would have been stored was not there.

The goddess continued after a wicked laugh, "The Sig brothers are blood-related to Master Stoppable, so I guess that makes little Ronald my brother in law if you consider the Sigs to all be Ron's twin-brothers," continuing with a sly smile, she said, "Carlynn, dear, as the dwarves figure it, we are sisters in law, but on Midgard I believe that we are considered not related. But I want you to feel that you can consider me your dear sister."

"Sigyn!" Freya barked out the name in obvious displeasure, flowing up to the group like a thunderstorm with Thrasi and Hrolf glowering at her side.

"Goddess!" Sigyn cried falling to her knees.

"Oh, get up, you aren't fooling anyone. Go in the castle and stay in your rooms for the rest of the day. Consider the advantage of having these young Midgardians as loyal friends and allies instead of trying to make them enemies. Leave your Sigs with me," smirking a bit as she continued, "you will be able to think better with a little solitude I think."

"Goddess! Please don't separate us from our beloved," Sigurd and Sigmund pleaded, looking very distressed.

Freya's necklace flashed and the two Sigs looked calmer. "Children," she addressed the Sigs and Midgardians, "come with me and let's talk over some tea. A glowing portal appeared and she directed Wanda, Carlynn and all three Sigs through it.

"Mind control?" the mystical master disapproved.

"Just enough to get everyone into the cottage without blood being spilled or hearts breaking. I'd rather not see any hearts being ripped out of chests courtesy of you," she replied, "really, Ronald, I want friendship between your folk and mine. If not that, then at least peace."

"Who is 'yours', Freya?"

"Everyone in Asgard is mine to cherish and protect, Ronald. Now shall we go have some tea?"

The Mystical Master and the Mother of Asgard stepped through the portal.

 _ **On the Ground**_

"Funny, I thought a lightning strike would have left a scorch mark on the plane," said Kim Possible, team lead of Team Possible, "maybe it was something else?"

Her sidekick suddenly had a coughing fit.

"Maybe a close strike and the EM pulse made all the electronics reset? As far as Samantha and I can figure out, there is no damage to anything. We are going to give it fifteen minutes to make sure any static electricity has dissipated, reset all the breakers, then try to start this baby up again." said Fred the pilot.

"Sure was lucky that the engines didn't totally go out," she said with a glare at her sidekick.

"Yeah, funny thing that. All the comms and navigation gear stopped working, but the old girl kept flying. The engines were running rough but disconnecting the throttle from the autopilot fixed that. Since there is a full moon tonight, no clouds and a nice paved state highway with no power lines to land on, we figured it was more prudent to land here than to try to land at an airport with no comms."

"Are you sure about leaving? Seems awfully dangerous to me for you two girls to be running around at night by yourselves…" Samantha the co-pilot/engineer walked up wiping her hands on a cloth.

"You were bringing us out here to hunt for evidence of bad guys using stolen government technology, we're not going to try to arrest them, just tell law enforcement where they are if we see them. Is there anyone we can call for you guys if we find a phone?" asked the sidekick.

Samantha handed her a business card, "If you get to a phone, call our office and if no one is there, leave a message for them to look for us on Route 1125. I expect that when we reset the breakers, the plane's electronics will be back online."

"OK, thanks for the ride and all. Well, Kim, we best be going," the sidekick said pushing her leader down the road.

The pair walked down the road and around a couple of curves. Pulling out her Kimmunicator, Kim called Wade,

"Wade, can you check to make sure we aren't being followed?"

"Sure, Kim, hold the Kimmunicator over your head. I need both of you be as still as you can but don't hold your breath."

After a solid minute passed, Wade announced, "OK, I don't detect the electrical signals from any other human hearts within a half mile of you. I'll have eyes on the plane in fifteen minutes when an Ag-Sat passes overhead."

"Thanks, Wade, We may be going stealth here in a minute, don't worry unless we are off the air for more than three hours, OK?"

"Gotcha. Good hunting and remember this is a recon mission." The little screen when blank.

Kim tossed out her pocket boat and it expanded into its full twelve-foot length.

They quickly lashed their packs to the deck, Kim stepped up next to the mast and told Rhianna to stand behind her and hold onto her and 'keep your hands off the mast'.

Rhianna was surprised when a steady wind came from behind her, filled the sail and the wheeled boat started rolling down the highway.

"Kim, I want to apologize for screwing up back there. I should have told you what I wanted to do before I did it…"

"Yes, you should have. And I was a little angry. But it turns out your idea was sound and everything turned out OK. So I will call no harm, no foul this time, but give me some type of warning next time or there won't be a 'third' time.", the teen heroine warned then continued, "Can you make that bubble again? I'd like us to be as stealthy as we can be for a while. And hang on tighter, if I have to dodge a deer or possum crossing the road, I don't want to lose you."

Kim felt arms tighten around her and heard the soft chanting start up again. She pulled back harder on the mast and figured that they were going about forty to forty-five MPH which was all she was comfortable on this road in the dark.

Wade checked the latest satellite images. About ten miles down the road from Team Possible's last position were men carrying guns standing around a roadblock. He resolved to have Rhianna teach him to swear when he tried to contact Team Possible, but they were apparently not listening.

 _ **Tea Solves Everything**_

Wanda silently scowled sipping her tea watching the four blonds at the table chatting and joking. As far as she knew, the Evil Triplets were less than a week 'old' and had at most only dim impressions of a few of Ron's memories. What could they have to talk about? Freya had, as her American friends say, 'come clean' concerning the creation of the Evil Triplets using bloody clothes found in Ron's mission pack. Unbelievably, he seemed relieved that these, these abominations were, in his words, 'my blood brothers'. Baka! The only thing that stayed her hand was that Rufus, sitting on the table with eyes lit with blue fire, had stopped growling and was now just watching and listening.

How could they not see the unnaturalness in them! ET #2 and #3 were fidgeting, their anxiety in being separated from their 'beloved Sigyn' slowly building. That any kind of 'Ron' could show undying loyalty, love, and devotion to that, that, _**yamauba**_ that tried to kill her friends was infuriating. She silently repeated one of Suzie's favorite mantras to try to calm herself.

"Take a walk with me please?"

Wanda jerked in surprise and irritation that she had been so focused on her anger that she lost situational awareness.

"Please, the testosterone is getting pretty thick in here and Sigbjorn won't let me walk outside alone." Ron's NOPE sister held out her hand.

The Ninja took a deep breath and stood up, casually sheathing the dagger she had drawn. Taking the woman's hand she allowed herself to be pulled out the door, trusting Rufus to guard his friend.

"My name is Carlynn Brand, I don't think we actually got introduced this morning. Uh, Brand is my family name, but Carlynn is fine."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Carlynn-san. I am Wang Wanda, Wang is my family name. You may call me Wanda."

"So, Wanda, I suppose that Ninjas see strange things like this all the time?"

"Not this often. Come to think about it, strangeness seems to follow my otouto-chan like a puppy."

"'otouto-chan'?"

"That's a Japanese affectionate term for little brother. I met him at my school a couple of years ago. He seemed goofy, but our Master Sensei claims he saw steel underneath his clumsy facade. I am not sure whether there is steel or, as Ronald claims, 'dumb skills', but I have seen that he is certainly loyal and a good man to have at your side when in trouble."

"Wanda, have you killed people?"

"I have killed, I am a Ninja. We are sworn to protect family and community. We prefer to work in shadows unseen and leaving dead bodies lying about is bad. But sometimes it is necessary. Have you ever killed anyone, Carlynn-san?"

"I… I don't think so, I have only been in one fight, it was over in seconds and I woke up not even remembering my name… Wanda, what am I going to do with Sigbjorn?"

The Ninja's brain reset from the sudden change in topic, "What do you mean?"

"When we were trapped in the room, I asked him if he was a fallen warrior brought by the Valkyries to live in Valhalla. He said that he was forged in magic fires by the dwarves using magical runes so he could meet me, fall in love with me and be with me until the end of time. I thought it was some kind of guy Asgard sweet talk thing. But what if he and Freya are telling the truth?"

"Will you tell me what happened when you met him?"

"I thought he was Ron and panicked. He was collapsed on the ground unconscious. I rolled him over and looked into his eyes, you know, checking to see if his pupils were the same size. He asked my name, then when I told him, he said it was beautiful. Then he kissed me," her eyes grew a little dreamy when she said the last.

"You kissed someone you thought was Ron Stoppable? Are you suicidal?" the ninja was torn between astonishment and amusement.

"Hey! He grabbed me and kissed me. I thought maybe he was confused and thought I was Kim," seeing the Ninja was ready to laugh, she continued, "Hey, it was a great kiss, OK? Since I had already decided to change schools to get away from Ron, I thought it would be no big deal."

"Why would you want to get away from Ron?"

"I am afraid some guy would do something, hurt me maybe and then Ron would rip his heart out and I would be responsible somehow."

"Carlynn-san," the Ninja took her hand, "you are only responsible for your actions, not Ron's. I find it suspicious that ET #1 would open his eyes, ask your name, tell you it was beautiful and then kiss you. Maybe it was triggered by the Norse Rune Magics used to create him?"

"You mean he imprinted on me?"

"Maybe. There is something else different between ET #1 and the other two. Something more human perhaps. I think that the theory that he imprinted on you is solid. I also suspect that you were set up, that is, it was a trap designed for you. Consider that not only did you find him collapsed on the floor, you were locked in the room for nearly a full day. Maybe that was to ensure there was enough interaction with you to make sure he would imprint on you and only you."

"His name is Sigbjorn, not ET #1. But what do I do with him? Did you see the other two? They've been separated from Sigyn for only a couple of hours and they're about to crawl out of their skins to get back to her," the poor girl looked like she was about to hyperventilate, "Wanda, I'm not ready to take care of a cat, much less have an 'intended'!"

Wanda wondered what deity she had offended. She was the fun-loving, hard-drinking, prankster on the team. Now she was the personal relations counselor and teacher to a bunch of bloody Vikings and if that wasn't enough, Ron's teammate was now asking for advice on life decisions regarding absolute love. Taking a breath, she told herself that the true Ninja did her best to protect and help her family and community, so time to suck it up and Ninja.

"Carlynn-san. Sigbjorn is pleasant and has suggested no actions that upset your sense of propriety, yes?" Seeing the girl nod affirmative, she continued, "You need do nothing in haste. Enjoy this young man, you might find that you want to keep him. Perhaps we can talk to the dwarves who made him and find out more information. Bring him back home with you and Kim's mother can check him out, she is an expert on the brain and can be trusted to be discrete."

"But I live in a sorority! Girls only!"

"Mere details. Ron lives in that sorority, yes? There is an exception you can point to. You can move to an apartment. There will be issues that we cannot guess, so don't spend all your energy worrying about things that we know how to fix. Ron and my group, Team Cobra, will help with what we can," the Ninja decided that she had no guilt throwing her team under the bus with her.

"Really, you'll help me?" the gratitude in her eyes made Wanda resolve that the next prank kiss would be done by Suzie. Maybe Hirotaka.


	21. Team Possible, with New Sidekick

**_Author's Notes_**

 _My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and encouragement. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)_

 _All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also), and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati._

 _As normal, the chapter was getting long, so I split it._

 _ **Is Ron Nuts?**_

"OK, Wanda, I know this seems a little crazy," Ron said to the Ninja who was looking at him like he has lost his mind. They had been moved to larger quarters, a two-bedroom suite. They had stopped by the dining hall and brought back enough food for five hungry people. OK, it was four hungry people and one naked mole rat, but the amount of food was about the same. Currently, only three of them were in the room, Carlynn and Sigbjorn/ET #1 were at the healer's place getting her hand checked out and stopping at a shop for a spare change of clothes on the way back. Carlynn said she would look for a spare set for Wanda.

"I know they're not really copies of me, my blood DNA is only the DNA that controls how I look and some physical stuff, I have a second DNA that defines the rest of me. Even so, he feels like my brother. Wanda, for all my life, even with Kim and her family, I've felt alone a lot."

Rufus stopped eating and objected, "Hey!"

"I'm sorry, you are still the best friend I could ever ask for, Rufus. Right up there with KP. Then Hana showed up and she was the best little intruder into my heart. I found that Rhi was my half-sister and she is becoming special to me. I'm going to have a baby soon and that comes with a bunch of brothers and sisters that come with its mom and dad. Maybe, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, I'm a little fuzzy on relationship labels…"

"A baby?! Who's the mother? Aren't you the dad?"

"It's a long story. But the point is that I now have a chance to pick up another family member, one that I already feel a little connection to."

"Only one? Not three?" the ninja approved of two fewer threats.

"Yeah, that's the weird thing. Sigbjorn seems like a brother, but Sigurd and Sigmund seem different somehow. Maybe not even fully human.

"ET #2, ET #3, nasty!" pointed out Rufus, "Smell different, taste different."

Anyway, Sigurd and Sigmund will be stuck here with Sigyn. Can't wait to introduce Sigbjorn to Mom and Dad," the blond finished with a wicked grin.

"ET #1 is coming back with you?"

"Wanda! His name is Sigbjorn. He has to go back with Carlynn. You should have seen the guy while we were talking, he kept asking me if she would be safe outside walking with you. The guy is so totally in love with her."

"I was talking to Carlynn and I believe that the love he feels for her is not natural, that it is not by his choice."

"Does anybody really choose who they love? Besides, being in love is being in love no matter how you got there."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door, the door opened and Bjort came in followed by a dozen other women. Several carried wine bottles.

"Wanda, we have heard what you have been teaching and my colleagues wish to talk to you. Can you come with us?"

"When will she be back?" asked the blond.

"Never mind my teammate, he worries about the silliest things," the Ninja replied, getting up and making sure that she had both metal flasks tucked in her uniform, "He is also not the boss of me."

"Don't wait up, Champion Stoppable," teased Bjort, as the women left taking Wanda with them.

The blond sat down and started to eat. Looking at his little buddy, he commented, "Living in a castle like this wouldn't be bad. They have a dining hall which is open 24 hours a day, toss in Wifi, and it would be pretty sweet, right Rufus?"

"Need Nacos and cheese!" was the reply.

They were about half finished when his new brother and sorority sister came back. Dinner conversation was pleasant enough, he told the others about getting flushed down the Bifrost and his almost marriage. Carlynn groaned when he got to the part about Wanda playing the kissing prank then getting pulled up by the Bifrost. But eventually:

"I think we missed the end of our first semester, I'm not looking forward to trying to catch up. Think we will have to do the whole semester over?" asked the original blond.

"I was thinking of changing schools. I need to, well, try to get back to something more normal. No offense, but I find that I can't do your 'never be normal' thing."

"Can I go with you?" blurted out the panicked copy, "I really need to go with you." He was starting to sweat.

"Guys," said the original, "Let's not make any hasty decisions. We got to get Sigbjorn checked out to see if he needs vaccinations or special food or anything like that. Heck, Sigbjorn, you probably need to go to school somewhere. We can work the education details when we get back. I think we should assume that you both will live close to each other to start."

Carlynn yawned. "We can finish this discussion later. I think I'm going to take a shower and get some sleep." Noticing that she was about to be followed, she added, "Alone."

"Really got it bad for her, huh," said the original watching his teammate grab her bag with new clothes and disappear into a bedroom, closing the door behind her.

"Ron, I was literally made for her. My first real memories are of her essence being hammered into my very being. Then when she uncovered my eyes and I saw her face for the first time, it was like a physical blow, her essence in my soul connecting to the real woman it came from."

"Whoa, that sounds intense."

"It was. Right now, I find myself longing to see her, touch her, hear her voice. I fear that she will leave me and that I will not survive without her."

"Well, a girl breaking a guy's heart isn't always fatal."

"But how many guys do you know that have the essence of their intended embedded into their physical body? For me, I fear that a long separation from her would be fatal."

"Good point. I wonder if her essence can be removed from you? Maybe the magic fire and hammering can remove it?"

"Why would I want to do that? I love her, I like loving her, I want to love her. Isn't there someone you love?"

"Yes, I see what you mean. There was a time when I thought that KP'd never love me, maybe I would have had my love for her hammered out of my soul if the option would have been there. Would have saved me some pain, but in the end, she started to love me, so things worked out for the best."

"I will persevere."

Ron grinned, "Go for it, dude. Maybe you could stay at my parents' house until you get caught up to society. Going to need at least a GED, or maybe even attend my old high school. KP's brothers go there, they'd help you out."

"Wanda told Carlynn that Team Cobra would help."

"That could work. I bet their school would take Carlynn also, that way you guys get to go to school together."

They had just heard Carlynn shut off the water in the shower when the original blond had a stroke of genius. In order to give his copy a head start on cultural literacy, he pulled out his Kimmunicator and the two sat on the couch watching the epic WWII movie, _A Brick Too Far_. About halfway through the movie, the copy started getting fidgety. After a few more minutes he got up saying,

"Well, it's getting late, I'd better get some sleep." He headed toward the closed bedroom door.

"Wait a minute," Ron said, deciding that he probably owed Mr. Dr. P an apology, "where do you think you are going?" Rufus sat up and growled.

"I am going to sleep beside Carlynn. I slept with her in my arms last night and she seemed to enjoy it."

"That was last night. This is tonight. I can't explain women, I don't understand them. But I am sure that her saying 'yes' to something last night doesn't mean that it is OK with her tonight. You must be explicitly invited to sleep beside her again."

Ron got up and padded over to the distraught young man, "Trust me. It will take time for her to match your feelings," Slowly opening the door, the two peeked in, saw a sleeping Carlynn, then softly closed the door.

"How close do you have to be to her to not get the shakes?"

"Get the shakes?"

"You know, feel twitchy, like you want to crawl out of your skin. You didn't touch her at all during dinner and you were fine."

Closing his eyes and thinking hard, the copy replied, "If I was sleeping within a couple of feet of her, that should let my spirit be calmed by her physical presence."

"No touching?"

"No, I should be fine just being close enough to smell her."

Ron stepped over to a shelf and pulled down a pair of comforters and a pillow. Handing them to his copy, he remarked, "In my role of her teammate and Sorority brother, I am supposed to threaten you with bodily harm if you hurt her, touch her without invitation, or make her cry. As your new brother, I need to support you and try to teach you stuff. As I said, I don't understand women. Just give her time to know you and fall in love with you."

"How long did Lady Kim need to know you to fall in love with you?"

"About twelve years. But we were a special case and I am probably to blame for it taking all that time. Talk to Wanda when you get a chance. She teaches a class in what women want from their guy."

Watching his copy slip into the bedroom and settle down to sleep on the floor next to the bed with his 'intended', Ron gently closed the door, saying "Come on Rufus, let's go find our bed."

Going into the other bedroom, he stripped down to boxers and a soft cottony shirt, got in the bed, and managed to watch part of ' _The Evil Brick 2'_ before falling asleep.

It was in the wee hours of the morning when the apartment door quietly opened and the Ninja slipped in. The party she had been carried off to attend was a celebration exclusively attended by Valkyries that involved dancing. From her cultural studies, it appeared to be the American or UK version of the Middle Eastern 'hafla'. ( _ **A/N: Go to YouTube and search for 'hafla dancing' or 'Art of the Belly' for examples.**_ ) Basically, a women-only dance party, some of the Valkyries performed team dances that were obviously choreographed and well-practiced, others were individual and more extemporaneous. She had initially planned to just watch, but several of the better dancers dragged her to the center of the circle and with her input, created on the spot a "Japanese Tribal" style of dance. Then they insisted she learn the dance and then perform it with them. As for the wine, the bottles were consumed, she never got the chance to use the contents of her flasks. She had never had such a tough workout at Yamanouchi nor had she ever had so much fun learning new forms.

She had several offers of a place to sleep but figured that between the wine, the dancing and the very late hour, she was going to want to sleep in late. Best to do that where her team can find her. Seeing no pillows or comforters to sleep on the couch, she peeked in the first bedroom. There she found the extra pillows and bed linens; on the floor with ET #1 and Carlynn wrapped up in them. She watched the couple sleep for a few moments trying to figure out why they were sleeping on the floor hogging all the extra blankets. Then she went to the next bedroom where she found a Mystical Monkey Master sleeping dead to the world with a naked mole rat curled up on his pillow looking at her with shining black eyes.

Rummaging through the bags from the shops in the main room she pulled out a long shirt, suitable for sleepwear and slipping back in Ron's bedroom took a shower to wash off sweat and alcohol. Cold after the shower, she slipped under the comforter and next to the warm blond after checking for the tattoo that assured her that she had the original. Surprised that her cold touch didn't have him leaping out of bed, she settled against his warmth and relaxed into slumber. Rufus realizing that these two wouldn't be 'wrestling', crawled underneath the comforter and snuggled between them adding his bit of warmth. With the partying she had done this night plus the prank she could turn this into, Wanda Wang, Team Cobra Ninja was feeling like her old self again.

 _ **Typical Mission?**_

'Typical,' thought Kim Possible, chained to a wall wearing only a tee shirt, 'Well, the strip search was at least unusual, the no pants thing is new, but the vague itchiness from a nearby supervillain's zero point energy generation unit was like a taste of homecoming.'

The only thing that would have made it truly old home week was if Ron was chained next to her instead of Rhianna and Rufus was on the loose getting ready to set them free so she could kick butt and he could find the self-destruct.

They had been taken into custody at gunpoint then searched under the watchful eyes of a dark-haired woman with green eyes who was at this moment talking to a Henchman.

"Professor Demenz, they were carrying no weapons, just a comms device, a small cutting laser, a knock out gas dispenser disguised as a makeup case and a grapple hook gun that looks like a blow dryer." The henchman displayed their confiscated items as he put them in a bag.

"Destroy everything," she told the henchman, "burn their clothes, they might contain tracking chips."

Turning to the redhead and ignoring the sidekick, Professor Lucia Dementor said;

"Ms. Possible, what am I to do with you and your companion? You were carrying parachutes that were unused. That tells me that you were on your way to catch a plane to take you to your mission when you ran into the Children of the Constitution. Just not your lucky night, I guess. Hilton believes that you are smuggling immigrants, but then when you have money like he does, you don't need brains."

The woman walked over and ran a finger down the redhead's right forearm, across the artificial skin, and onto her real skin.

"The hand is artificial? I see no evidence of hidden lasers, gun barrels in the fingers or any electronics at all. It appears not to come off… easily, that is." The cold green eyes looked into her captive's now worried eyes, "How did you get it?"

"It was put on to replace one that I lost. It isn't super strong and I can't even hit as hard with it as my real hand. My body's tissue is supposed to slowly take over the artificial hand. Some number of years from now, it will be all me again."

"How did you lose your hand?"

"It was cut off by a villain who had a score to settle with me." This time her captive's eyes flashed with remembered rage.

"And what did you do to him? Arrest him and put him in jail?"

"I ripped off his genitals after he shoved them in my face and his girlfriend fed them to some ravens."

The stone walls echoed with peals of laughter. The stress detection readouts above her captive's head indicated that it was the truth.

"I like you, Kim Possible, would you like a job? I am running for Prime Minister of Latvernia in the upcoming elections, I am just meeting with law-abiding groups of American citizens before I finish wrapping up my teaching job and travel back home."

"Law-abiding?"

"Certainly, was there any report that there might be stolen technology here? No? These gentlemen assure me that the second amendment of something guarantees them the legal right to carry weapons. Perhaps it was a bit rude of them to stop you, but they will claim that you were smuggling an illegal alien across state lines and that they are holding you for the authorities to pick up. It was fortunate that I was here to prevent you girls from any possible abuse from your captors."

"Why do you all think that Rhi is an illegal immigrant from Mexico? Didn't they see her driver's license?"

"I suppose it is her dark hair and color of her skin. Well, Rhi" the woman said, turning to look her over, "are you from Mexico or are you American?"

"Yo no hablo Angles", snarked the annoyed sidekick.

Laughing delightedly, the older woman continued, "No, I'm going to guess from that atrocious accent that you are an American with an American Indian ancestry mixed in somewhere down the line."

"Anyway, my cousin Hans has spoken very ill of Team Possible and their treatment of him over the years. If this is the new Team Possible, I must say that it needs a little work."

"Dr. Dementor is your cousin? He's here, isn't he?" asked the redhead.

"Yes, he is my cousin and no, he's not here. Why would you think that?"

"There is a zero point energy collector close by. I've only seen it used by him and Dr. Drakken."

"How do you know?"

"Something about it makes my skin itchy. I can feel it."

"I will have him check the design of its shielding. He was here a few weeks ago for a technical exchange with these patriotic Americans but has gone back to help supervise our upcoming election. These noble protectors of this country's freedoms offered my campaign a generous donation to thank him for his help."

Stepping back toward the door, she said, "Well, it has been interesting talking to you. They will be able to transfer the money first thing in the morning and then I will be on my way. I will offer to turn you both over to the authorities on my way to the airport, so perhaps I will see you in the morning. Have a pleasant night."

The woman walked out pulling the large steel door shut and there was a loud clang as the door was locked.

"I thought she'd never leave, OK to free us now?" Rhianna asked.

"Please and thank you," the team leader had been missing Rufus and wondered what her sidekick was going to pull out of her hat.

Chanting "skcol nepo selkcahs nepo" quietly, Rhianna's shackles fell open and then she walked over to Kim, freeing her.

"That's amazing! What all can you do, Rhi? Anything you can say backward?"

"No, it's not quite that easy. Right now, I am great with locks and pretty good with bubbles of silence, isolation, and hiding. It was what we needed the most in getting Wade out. Monk Warnatius has offered to teach me more spells. I think he wants me to leave with him."

"Leave? Like in leave the Earth?"

"Yeah, I've told him that I'm not ready for that. I get this funny vibe from him like he wants more than a student-teacher relationship. Maybe it wouldn't seem so creepy if the guy wasn't old, green and two feet taller than me. So, what do we do now? Break out of here and take down the bad guys?"

"I think we wait for a bit. We can't just bust out of here and take down the bad guys, legally we might be the bad guys if we beat up these people. Let's get a little rest and then see if we can sneak around and find out if they really have the PDVI and what Dr. Dementor showed them about using it. You can open the lock to the door, right?"

"Uh, that's going to be a problem," Rhianna had walked over to the door and was leaning forward with her forehead resting on its metal surface.

"Why"

"The door isn't locked, it is held shut with a beam that runs across the door and fits into a pair of holders on each side. My 'open locks' spell isn't powerful enough to move it."

"Good thing we have a Hammer then, right?"

"Hard to be sneaky after you have blasted down a steel door, Kim. Tell the truth now, you just want to smash stuff with your Hammer, right?"

"Maybe… The problem is that Ron and I never had to worry about henchmen with automatic high-velocity rifles."

 _ **Typical Villain?**_

Bill Ian watched the dark-haired woman with green eyes step out of the secure lockup and close the door. Picking up the heavy beam, he placed it in the brackets mounted to the door and the walls, effectively locking the door shut.

"A bit excessive, don't you think Mr. Ian? They don't even have lockpicks, I seriously don't think they will be able to come up with a battering ram."

"The redhead is Kim Possible. Scuttlebutt is that her sidekick has a pet rat that shows up and knows how to pick locks," replied the Children of the Constitution's second-in-command.

"I thought her sidekick was a skinny blond guy?"

"That little border crossing lesbo probably replaced him. Illegal immigrants have pushing white guys like us out of their jobs for years now. She probably works for half his wages. That was bad enough, but soon it will be those big green aliens. But they won't just be taking our jobs, they'll be making us slaves. The Second Amendment gives us the right to bear arms to defend this nation against tyranny and the thirteenth prohibits aliens from making us slaves. Thanks to your uncle and our own Dr. Mel Feasance, we are ready to defend our country and its Constitution."

"What exactly did the good Doctors make for you?" Lucia was wondering if Hans forgot to tell her something.

"The Sword of Freedom. It is for when bullets aren't enough to defend yourself."

"I thought that Dr. Dementor was here sharing his Transportulator technology along with the zero-point power generator?"

"Your cousin was thinking we were fools. Just because Mel didn't get his degree in physics from some fancy Ivy League College doesn't mean he isn't more than a match for some German physicist. After Dr. Dementor left, Mel figured out how to combine the Transportulator technology with a direct power feed from the PDVI to create a seed-sized unstable blackhole that can be transformed into a wormhole."

"But how does that make a weapon? It sounds like a discovery that could make Dr. Feasance rich and famous. It could revolutionize travel!"

"Traveling through the wormhole is real hard on what you are transporting," Bill laughed, "Maybe you'll get to see it in action this morning. Lars has a girlfriend that works in the courthouse and she called to say the State Bureau of Investigation just got a warrant to come look for our PDVI unit. Claimed that it is an unlicensed explosive device. We are calling in the rest of our members to prevent the Feds from taking it. I believe that it provides the edge we need to defend our country from those oversized green freaks."

"I'd love to stay and see it all, but I really need to take off to get to the airport in time…"

"Lucia, you don't mind if I call you Lucia, do you Professor Dementor? Lucia, it's not safe for you to leave right now, those fool County Mounties might think you were fleeing with the PDVI and hold you for questioning. You'd miss your flight for sure then."

"Why would they stop me?"

"Mel got a little carried away and dusted your car with a little radium. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to set off the detectors mounted on police cars. Besides, you need to type in your account numbers and password for the exchange of funds to go through and we can't do that until our funds are certified later this morning," Bill said with a smile.

Lucia was about to point out that you only needed passwords for withdrawing funds, not to deposit funds when Bill's smile told her that he already knew that…

"Perhaps you should retire to your room and get some rest, professor. We'll make sure you are up in time to get to the airport. Lars, would you please see that Lucia gets to her room and see that nothing disturbs her, please?"

A large man wearing camouflage Henchman coveralls with the name tag "Senist" came over to the professor. In addition to the ubiquitous sidearm in a holster, he carried a shock stick. Gesturing to the elevator, he said,

"Let's take the elevator, professor. Would you like to stop by the kitchen and get a late-night snack? I believe there are fresh baked cookies…"

"Yes, some milk and cookies would be nice, thank you very much," Lucia said, turning to the elevator. She thought it would be ironic if Team Possible ended up rescuing her by happenstance. She was already regretting directing such a meticulous search of the two young women.

 _ **Di Di Mau**_

At first light, Carlynn awoke warm and comfortable cradled in strong arms. Twisting around, she looked into the sleeping face of Ron's blood-twin. 'He really is a nice guy, not contaminated by the patriarchy,' she thought, 'I'll give him a chance.' She was about to worry about the implications resulting from him being compelled to fall in love with her, but a complaining bladder cut her waking reflections short. Easing out of his grip without waking him, she silently slipped into the bathroom. Once she was relieved and refreshed, she quietly dressed for the day. She was about to go down to the dining hall and bring back some breakfast when one of the men who had escorted Freya yesterday burst into the room, calling out, "Champion Stoppable! Come immediately! Lady Kim is in peril!"

Seconds later Ron blew out of the other bedroom clad in a soft cotton shirt and boxers while carrying running shoes. "Can you get me to her?" he asked, snatching up his Kimmunicator and lacing up his shoes.

"My Lady Freya says to put the sun at your back to find her," said the armsman. A blue portal opened in front of Ron and he stepped through the portal followed by a speeding mole rat. The portal collapsed with a crackle as soon as Rufus was clear.

"Wait, I need to go help him!" Carlynn screamed in frustration, staggering to a halt after running through the space where the portal had been.

"I'm sorry, but without Odin's assistance, getting one person to Midgard is very hard, getting more is impossible," said the armsman.

"What is happening?" a bleary-eyed, disheveled Ninja stumbled out of the other bedroom, wearing a soft sleep shirt but carrying her wakizashi at the ready.

"My Lady Freya has sent Champion Stoppable to help Lady Kim. Unfortunately, she could only send one person to her aid at this time." Seeing the glare from the other girl, he corrected his statement, "one person and a naked mole rat."

"How long until you can send me?" demanded the Ninja.

"Tomorrow night, Odin will be back and with his assistance, all of you can be sent back. If you will excuse me, I have other duties to attend to," the armsman bowed and turned to the door not mentioning that his other duties included making sure that the other 'Sig brothers' kept Sigyn entertained and not planning trouble.

Carlynn followed the muttering Ninja back into the bedroom where she took three orange pills from a small case and swallowed them, chasing them with a glass of water. When the disheveled woman face planted on the bed, Carlynn noticed that the bed appeared to have recently had two occupants.

"Wait a minute. Yesterday you asked me if I was suicidal because I kissed a guy that just looked like Ron but you actually slept with him?!"

"Please speak less loudly Carlynn-san. I was cold, Ron-san was warm and it seemed like a good prank. I believe he did not even realize I was here. Please, let me sleep. I will explain everything in a couple of hours," said the Ninja who was hoping the ibuprofen would kick in soon. Last night's creation and practice of 'Japanese Tribal' belly dancing exercised muscles that she had not realized that she even had until this morning.

Shaking her head, Carlynn walked back into the main room where her 'intended' was standing in the doorway of their bedroom.

"You tried to leave me behind." the blood-brother accused.

Walking up to him, she gave him a long good morning kiss. At first, he was stiff with anger but shortly returned the kiss with feeling. She said, "I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't thinking. Get cleaned up and dressed, we'll talk over breakfast."

* * *

Buzz, Buzz, Bzzzt, Buzz.

The Kimmunicator in Ron's hand vibrated using its silent alert the instant Ron stepped through the portal and onto a moon-lit field covered in knee-high grass. Looking around and seeing nobody in sight, he sat down cross-legged to be more out of sight and answered in a quiet voice, "Go, Wade."

An earpiece popped out of the Kimmunicator. Placing it in his ear, he heard;

"Ron! Kim and Rhi's been snatched! They were doing some recon and got stopped at a roadblock. I saw it all, but they were doing something to block signals, Kim said they were going under stealth. I saw it coming but couldn't warn them!"

"Who's got them? You got me a location? Wait, How did you know I'd be here?"

"You know that Thora person?"

"I was there when she was changed, Wade"

"Well, her mom is like the queen of Asgard or something and tells her stuff in dreams at night. Thora called me via Joss and told me they were going send just you back and where you would show up. I threw some stuff together for you, it's on a drone and will be there in," Wade tapped on a keyboard, "another thirty seconds. Your opposition is a group called the Children of the Constitution. They claim that they have to be prepared to defend themselves against an out of control government. From their INTERNET postings, they are talking about upping their game with the help of a foreign consultant. They say that the Lowardians are secretly taking over the military so they had to make a new 'secret weapon' to defend themselves."

Ron along with Rufus on his shoulder shivered in the cold. It could be worse, he had a dream once about walking for days in the snow using only GPS to get home after being left behind on a mission. "Defend themselves? Against who? ATF?"

"Against the Lowardian military when they come to round up people for feedlots or something."

He heard the buzz of an eight-engine drone carrying a mission pack and an insulated cooler before he saw the dark shape approaching. "Wade, your care package has arrived."

"Great, I'll let you gear up. I have no floor plans on their base and I've sent the satellite photos I have to your Kimmunicator. I'll beep you if I find anything out. Be aware that some Federal Marshals are there and state police are surrounding the place. Sorry, Ron, I don't have more to help you. These guys aren't the typical villains that you and Kim have gone up against, they might not be villains at all, legally."

"Wade, if they've threatened KP or Rhi, they're villains," the blond said while unbuckling the straps that held the pack to the drone, "got to get ready. Wade, you rock in stereo, buddy." To himself, he muttered, 'If they've hurt KP or Rhi, they're dead. After that, I don't care what happens to me.'

The Mystical Monkey Master felt, rather than actually saw, swirling orange eyes glaring at him. A voice hissed, "Ronald, your life is not yours to throw away. What if Kimberly lives, but Rhi dies, would you deny your mate your life?" The voice hissed on, overriding his attempt to protest, "If Kimberly alone dies, do you deny Rhi your brotherhood, and what of Hana and your unborn child? You would deny them your guidance, your training, your 'never be normal' philosophy to life?"

"You'd have me live out the rest of my life with the pain of knowing that I failed KP?"

"A true Monkey Master cares for and treasures young ones above all other things, Ronald. You haven't lost anyone today. Calm your mind and focus on keeping it that way." The eyes faded away.

Opening the pack, he found a heavy Ninja uniform, certainly better for cold weather than boxers and provided some protection against knives and lighter pistols. This one had a pair of large pockets suitable for Rufus. Gratefully putting on the warmer clothes, he had started stowing away the weapons packed with the uniform when he heard a bumping noise from the cooler and the top popped open.

Two sets of beady eyes peeked over the edge of the cooler. The eyes were followed by bodies similar to Rufus, except for a strange dual shoulder arrangement that gave them four legs plus two wings.

"Pippa? Brina?" asked the now fully dressed and armed Ninja, "Is it really you? You've gotten big!" Now that might have been an exaggeration, a naked mole bat was a small animal given its naked mole rat heritage, but these little creatures had been juveniles the last time he had seen them. It appeared to have been the right thing to say as they preened a bit in pleasure.

"Scout for danger?" squeaked one.

"Find Kim?" squeaked the other.

A naked mole bat has two main defenses against predators. First, it's poisonous (not venomous), which won't necessarily protect the individual but helps protect the nest. Second, it flies really well. For humans, it has an extra defense in that it is adorable and people generally want to pet and cuddle it. Dr. Amy Hall spent a lot of effort in designing these animals from a DNA sample taken from Rufus. While "DNAmy" was by any measure, a genius bordering on mad science, the woman definitely knew and appreciated cuddly.

As the glow of a new day appeared on the eastern horizon, A Mystical Monkey Master consulted with his tiny allies on how to do this.

* * *

Kim and her shiny new sidekick were discussing options when they were interrupted by a scrabbling noise from what appeared to be a large sump pump in the corner. Walking over to check it out, they found that some animal was chewing through a flexible corrugated hose connecting a large PVC pipe running up the wall to the pump. They saw a beady little eye peek through a hole and then heard a tiny voice squeak, "Hi Kim! Help?"

Gripping the connector and yanking hard, the two managed to pull it off the pump. The redhead gave it a shake and a small animal slid out, connected to a stout string.

Biting the string off, then unwrapping its wings from around its body, it shook them out and stretched them out in relief.

"Kim! Hi! Ron is coming," it squeaked as Kim scooped it up and cuddled it.

"Wait," the sidekick asked, "Rufus has wings?"

"Rhi, may I present Pippa. She is the granddaughter of Rufus, sort of. Pippa, this is Rhianna, Rhi for short. She is Ron's sister, sort of."

"Hi Rhi!" the naked mole bat squeaked, then struggled loose from Kim, dropped down to the ground and walked over to the pipe, "Will tell Ron; Kim, Rhi are OK!"

"Wait! Pippa!," called the redhead, "Tell Ron not to go all William Wallace on these people."

The small animal nodded, squeaked 'No go William Wallace on people.' then wrapped its wings tightly around its body, and disappeared up the PVC pipe.

 _ **Federal Marshals**_

Federal Marshal Alethea Korzhan watched the fields to the east of the compound. She had thought she has seen a flash of some kind in a field to the east of the building. She and her Federal Marshal partner of were here, sort of on standby until their official orders came through. The Governor was in a pissing match with pretty much anyone Federal over perceived challenges to his state's rights.

State Troopers and people from the State Bureau of Investigation were all ready to deliver a search warrant looking for illegal, possibly stolen, technology. The Trooper she spoke to this morning said the technology was about the size of a coffee thermos, very slightly radioactive and generated RF interference, easily detectable with an AM pocket radio. Other than that, he had no clue what he was looking for.

The building looked like a bunker, the occupants were suspected of being in possession of a stolen, dangerous, possibly illegal high-tech item. This was a job for Team Possible. So, what the heck happened to them? There was all the craziness last summer and then they had disappeared.

"Alethea! Hi!" squeaked a tiny voice as a dark shape zipped around her. Quickly recovering from the surprise, the Marshal took her hand off her sidearm and held out her arm. A small winged animal landed on it.

"Pippa?" she guessed.

"Brina!" was the indignant reply. Apparently, she guessed wrong. She gave the winged animal a long stroke down its back in apology.

"Are Kim and Ron here?" asked the Marshal hoping that was the case. If Kim was here then maybe this would be a trip where nobody was killed and the only thing she had to pull out of its holster were handcuffs.

"Kim inside. Ron come save her."

"Please tell Ron to come talk to me, my partner and I will back him up."

"Kay!" The small animal zipped off.

"'Thea," Anthony Loweng, a tall man in jeans, boots and a dark jacket that had US MARSHALL on the back walked up, "Was that one of those little animals we helped Joss Possible rescue after that explosion last summer? And you were talking to it?"

"Yeah, some are pretty smart and even talk a little. If I understand the little guy correctly, Ron Stoppable is out here somewhere and Kim Possible is a forced guest of the Children of the Constitution. I told it to tell Ron to come talk to us, that we'd be his backup." The Senior Marshall stared out at the field. 'Was the flash she saw related to Ron's arrival?'

"Backup my butt." he replied, scowling, "Those kids should be in school, out seeing the world or something. Learning to be adults. It's people like you and me that should be taking on supervillains and vigilante militias."

With a soft fluttering sound, the little naked mole bat landed on Alethea's shoulder. It nervously shifted from foot to foot as if it knew its message was not going to make these people happy.

"Ron says," it squeaked clearly, "good guys dress in black." Its message delivered, it took back off into the growing dawn.

The two Marshals looked at each other, remembering that the last time they had seen Kim and Ronald, they were in the company of at least one Ninja. Ninjas dress in black. Rumor was that Ronald had torn the heart out of a Lowardian hunter to protect Kimberly. They had dealt with her sidekick in the past but when they saw him at Dr. Slim Possible's ranch this summer, the slightly bumbling, good-natured, goof had been replaced by someone much darker and subject to episodes of PTSD. Heck, they both had episodes.

Anthony had been late to the one in the meadow, but he heard that Kimberly pulled a sword on Ronald and he almost killed her, both thinking the other was the Lowardian hunter. His sister had a daughter who had a friend at the NOPE house where Ronald lived on campus and they said there was a "Ronald watch" at night to keep him from destroying the place while having a nightmare by gently waking him up at the first sign of disturbing dreams. 'No,' he thought to himself, 'this Ronald is going to hurt people.'

"'Thea," he said, "We'd best go down and talk to the State Police. Tell them that part of Team Possible is suspected of being held against their will and that these idiots had better turn them loose right now. Because I think that Ronald will mess these guys up."


	22. Team Possible

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and encouragement. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also), and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

 _ **The Man in Black**_

The coming dawn with clear skies was ideal for Ron to make his infiltration approach toward the simple two-story concrete building. The bright sun low on the horizon made shadows for concealment and destroyed the night vision people needed to see into those shadows. Avoiding the Highway Patrol officers was straightforward and the news van pulling up with a cameraman unloading his gear was even easier to slip past.

Checking all sides of the building, he found one set of doors in the front with no other openings on the ground floor. No real windows, just narrow, shooting slits on the second floor. Got to be a serious fire code violation with respect to escape routes, he thought. From the position of holes high on the walls to let rain drain off from the roof, he figured that the roof was flat and had a waist-high wall around the perimeter.

Sitting down in a shadow where he could watch the front door without being seen, he slowly pulled the blue. No bright blue glow was wanted here, no screaming monkeys, just some extra power, speed, and stealth. Soft fluttering at his shoulder announced Pippa. "Kim, Rhi OK," it softly squeaked, "Kim says no go William Wallace."

The Monkey Master softly chuckled, imagining Pippa squeaking in a Scottish brogue. "Where are they?"

"Underground. Back of building, far side. Corner room," the little scout continued.

"Are they tied up? Hurt in any way?"

"Not tied. Not hurt. Alone in room."

Well, hell. KP and Rhi were left locked in a room untied and alone? His KP could break out of that in her sleep. "I mean, really," he thought, "If push comes to shove, she controls both the Lotus Blade and Thor's Hammer." Why was he even here? He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to release building anger and tension and the desire to commit violence against those who would threaten his KP. He thought he might have felt a scaly yet affectionate squeeze along with vibrations from a low purr.

He wondered if Freya had been mistaken or wanted him here for another reason. Maybe these people were just extreme conservatives but not villains. People who were trying to be ready to protect themselves and their families against an unlikely threat but wouldn't go out of their way to make trouble for others. Were KP and Rhi even locked in the room? Maybe he could do this mission without going Robert the Bruce on anyone's butt much less going William Wallace on the whole bunch.

He was about to go to the front door and introduce himself when he saw a cameraman and reporter following not too closely behind a trio of state policeman as they walked up to present an envelope to a man who had just stepped out of the front door. The man started to speak loudly, definitely orating for the camera.

Ignoring the unfolding made-for-TV drama, he looked down the road where state troopers were now stopping people in SUVs and pickups. People carrying guns. Open carrying of guns was legal here, but a Ninja's stealth did not make him bulletproof and Ron was starting to worry about getting caught in a crossfire. The discussion at the roadblock seemed spirited, a little heated perhaps, but nobody had drawn a weapon. Yet. Best to wait a bit before committing to any action, he thought.

* * *

Lars Senist used the joystick to center and focus the display showing a woman standing almost out of sight far behind the line of State Troopers and Highway Patrol.

"Why do you care about her?" asked Lucia Dementor, "she's not one of the state law enforcement people."

"I recognized her from when I worked for Señor Senior, Junior. She's a Federal Marshal," replied the large Henchman in a dark red uniform, "and they don't have flying squirrels in these parts. There! See? That animal didn't come from this planet, it has six limbs," he continued pointing to a rodent-like animal clearly having four legs plus two wings perched on the woman's arm.

After he adjusted a couple of knobs, they heard,

 _"Are Kim and Ron here?"_ asked a woman's voice.

 _"Kim inside. Ron come save her,"_ replied a voice that frankly sounded like a cartoon chipmunk.

 _"Please tell Ron to come talk to me, my partner and I will back him up,"_ the woman instructed.

 _"Kay!"_ the small animal took off with a flurry of wings.

"So, Ron Stoppable _**is**_ here," Bill Ian said, walking up to the display, "But why? The Internet said that he rescued Kim Possible after the Lowardian attack and brought her home safely. But here she is, going on a mission with that little immigrant girl and not him. Did they have a falling out?"

"Perhaps her arm isn't the only part of her that isn't human?" Dr. Mel Feasance, a rugged looking man with a short military haircut growled, "Perhaps the Lowardians recycled her body and allowed him to 'rescue' her so she could subvert our society? Perhaps he is hunting her down? Maybe he could be an ally?"

"Her responses seemed normal and I could find no technology in her artificial hand, alien or otherwise," said the dark-haired professor, "She is rumored to have been off the grid for the last several months while her sidekick has been living in a Sorority House full of women going to school. No, I think that any relationship they had is over."

"A house full of women? How does he have the strength to leave the place?" smirked Lars.

"I have heard that while some Jews are polyamorous, mainstream Judaism does not accept polyamory. I suspect that the boy is not having intimate relations with any of the women in his House," pointed out Lucia primly, not mentioning the old rumor that Ron had once asked the entire female student body out to a dance, one at a time, and was turned down by all of them. With Lars watching over her shoulder, the professor had constrained her Internet time this morning to search for Team Possible information.

"He's a Jew?" sputtered Dr. Feasance, "But he's blonde!"

"When Team Possible retrieved the PDVI in Las Vegas," the professor replied, "he was overheard talking to a person he called 'his rabbi' about some Bar Mitzvah paperwork. I think it is pretty safe to assume that he is Jewish."

They were attracted to a motion on the display, a male Federal Marshal had walked up and was now talking. Listening, they heard him say,

"… _best go down and talk to the State Police. Tell them that part of Team Possible is suspected of being held against their will and that these idiots had better turn them loose right now. Because I think that Ronald will mess these guys up_."

"Well, that sinks it," swore Bill, "Liberal Jew or not, Lowardian hunter or Lowardian stooge, that boy is working with those left-wing, bleeding-heart Feds and we know that they are after our guns." Turning to address a group of men checking their automatic rifles and putting extra clips into pockets, he commanded, "I want four of you up on the roof to make sure the boys can get in the front door with the extra supplies." Pointing to an unarmed Henchman carrying cleaning supplies, he barked, "You! Go down to the basement and make sure those girls stay put."

After a small discussion, four of the six men went up some stairs going up to a trap door leading to the roof.

Dr. Feasance pulled off the cover of a backpack exposing the PDVI suspended in a framework so it did not rest against the wearer's back. Slipping it on, he said, "I'll go down and show these momma's boys who they are messing with." He walked out the door and down the stairs.

"You are powering Transportulator technology with a PDVI? A PDVI that is carried close to the body? Are you people crazy?" Lucia was stunned.

"Yep, your cousin warned us not to be too close to the PDVI in operation, that's why the Doc has a copper plate between his body and the device. We aren't as scared of electromagnetic fields as you European 'safety for all' tree huggers are." Bill grinned at her, "Now if you will excuse me, I have to make a call and see what's holding my boys up. Durned county mounties probably have a roadblock set up."

The professor turned to study the displays from the surveillance cameras. She figured her only chance of surviving another day was to catch a ride when Ron Stoppable blew through to rescue his friends. At least these people had not had time to drain her funds using an electronic transfer this morning.

* * *

Ron was starting to regret not just breaking down a wall and charging right in. The guy talking just kept going on and on. At this rate, he would be able to take advantage of the setting sun before the speaker got to the point. Now he was saying to the TV camera,

"We do not recognize this illegal and unconstitutional search warrant. Our constitution guarantees protection against unreasonable search, this warrant is for 'a coffee thermos-sized device'! A warrant must say clearly what the target of the search is. This is a fishing expedition! Our lawyers are at this moment at the state courthouse in an emergency meeting with a superior judge to have this warrant declared null and void!"

A random thought chilled Ron's blood. The PDVI was about the size and shape of a coffee thermos. Freya couldn't see Kim's future, but she could see things that might happen to other people in the general vicinity. Something really bad was going to happen here.

Motion off to the side caught his eye, he saw Federal Marshals Loweng and Alethea slip down and talk to some state policeman, a Captain maybe? The hidden Monkey Master saw the group look at the roof of the building whose shadow he was hiding in. The Captain talked urgently into his lapel mic, and the officers delivering the warrant backed away. In the matter of a half-dozen heartbeats, the situation changed from a mostly peaceful protest to an armed stand-off.

He was about to tell Rufus to disable the news van's electronics when a man stepped out the front door. The PDVI was in a frame on his back with a power cable connected to a two-handed sword hilt complete with quillions?

Turning to Pippa, he whispered, "Tell Kim 'Di Di Mau, Danger Front'. Then stay with Kim!" The mole bat streaked off with a nearly silent flutter of wings.

A brightly glowing red bead popped out of the hilt and floated about four feet in front of it as if there was a stiff wire anchoring it to the hilt. The color of the bead slowly ran up the spectrum until it hit purple then it burst into a nearly black ball of fire roughly the size of a basketball. With a loud pop, the ball of dark fire turned into a doorway to Hell with a whoosh of air rushing into what had to be a wormhole because stars were briefly visible before dust and water vapor blocked the view.

Ron snatched Rufus and Britta, stuffing them roughly and securely into pockets on his uniform. The other people in the area watched in fascination, paralyzed by the novelty of this unknown phenomenon. Checking up the road, he saw cheering from some of the people at the Highway Patrol roadblock.

The man adjusted the sword grip and the dark fire of the ball refocused into a dirty-gray cone with the base pointing away from the weapon's wielder and growing in size. The people that had been close were backing up even further. Looking behind them as they retreated, they looked into the open base of the cone and saw swirling mist from air rushing into the darkness along with lightning and possibly the hint of stars.

The swordsman stepped away from the building, aiming the swirling vortex at a State Police SUV. The vehicle crumpled into a ball as if it was a cardboard toy in the hand of a giant and was sucked into the end of the now fully formed Hellmouth.

State Police opened fire and the bullets were sucked into the cone creating tracer-like streaks as they vaporized. Militia from the roof opened fire to provide cover to the nightmare wielding 'swordsman'.

'How the heck do I fight someone that is using a nuclear-powered vacuum cleaner from Hell?' Ron wondered, tapping his earpiece, then spoke louder than he was comfortable with so Wade could hear him over the screaming wind and shrieking sheet metal from a Highway Patrol car being shredded and deformed, "Wade! Can you see this? How can I shut it down without blowing up half the state?"

"Holy crap, Ron," Wade decided that he really, really needed to have Rhianna teach him to swear, "I saw the TV feed while it lasted. OK, I'm getting a picture from your earpiece now. Let me call Justine Flanner and I'll get back to you."

* * *

"OK, so, why don't you call the hammer?" Rhianna was wondering what the redhead was waiting for, "I thought you liked smashing stuff."

"Well, I worry about liking it too much. Holding the Hammer changes my personality as well as my body. Makes me more aggressive, meaner. The more I use it, the more I can feel the change," she replied, "Perhaps we should wait until we know that these are really bad guys before I start Hammering on them."

Kim's choice was taken from her when Pippa popped out of the PVC pipe, squeaking "Dee Dee Mow! Danger Front!" at the top of her tiny voice.

Immediately the redhead held out her hand and cried out "Mjöllnir! I need you!"

"Uh, how is it going to get in here?" asked a puzzled sidekick.

"It should blast through the door any time…" her answer was interrupted by a crash behind them along with a shower of dirt and small concrete fragments a split second before a handle slapped into her hand.

"OK, well, that works too, I guess," Kim said, looking up at the large hole in the wall leading up through a tunnel in the dirt to the sky outside. Pippa zipped up and out the hole, there was a shout followed by the chattering of three round bursts of automatic rifle fire and Pippa zipped back into the room.

Rhi held out her arm for Pippa to land on, as the little scout squeaked, "Guns on the roof."

"We heard, little one," said the young woman who was now _**Lady Kim, the Hand that Held the Hammer**_ , taller, much more muscular and wearing a full set of armor.

"What does 'Diddy Mow' mean?"

Turning to her sidekick, she said, "Ron claims that 'di di mau' is Vietnamese for 'get the hell out of Dodge, quickly and without delay.' He got it from some movie, _The Brick Hunter_ , I think. Make a protective bubble around yourself and Pippa. We're leaving." Then, with a wicked grin, she added, "just not in the direction they are expecting." Spinning the Hammer in her right hand, she held up her left in time to catch a blue glowing shield that flew down the hole and into the room.

The Hammer blasted into the door ripping the door and the beam that held it closed free of the doorframe with the flying door striking and stunning a Henchman carrying cleaning supplies. Stepping over the door and the man underneath it, she walked quickly into a short, wide, hallway, followed by Rhi and Pippa in a giant, translucent, golden hamster ball. At one end of the hall were stairs, in the middle was a large freight elevator, and finally at the other end was a copper covered door, the kind that is used on laboratories with extra sensitive experiments that require protection from radio frequency interference.

In this case, the shielding was to keep the cascading and collapsing electromagnetic fields from the zero point energy generator in the room from interfering with pretty much everything electronic in the area. Putting her shield on her back, Kim turned the handle down and pulled hard. The door slowly pulled loose from its electromagnetic seals and opened to reveal a small chamber and a second door. Reaching the handle on the inner door, she pushed hard and the door opened, exposing the two young women to a loud racket and an increase of the itch on their skin.

"Wait here," she told her sidekick and walked into the power room smashing the door hinges on her way in so the doors wouldn't close behind her. Finding no one in the room, Kim took a quick look at the video screens on several workstations. Seeing nothing that suggested that the power system was about to overload or self-destruct, she started to leave when she spotted a surveillance feed that periodically fuzzed out with interference. She did manage to make out a guy with the PDVI suspended in a backpack frame. Did he seem to be wielding some kind of tornado? 'OK,' she thought, 'that's why we don't go out the front,' ignoring the small whisper in her mind, 'Hitting that guy upside his head with the Hammer would probably remove the danger…'

Walking to the unconscious Henchman in the hallway, she noticed that he now had no pants, just Rainbow Sparkle Kitty boxers. Smirking, she looked at her sidekick who had an innocent look on her face but was now wearing a pair of dark red pants that seemed to fit her. Rolling her eyes after her sidekick said, "tif ot ecuder", she grabbed the man by his dark red jacket, and she strode toward the stairs, dragging him to what she hoped was a safer place.

* * *

The police and Marshals were retreating. Their return fire was ineffective as the bullets and slugs from their lower velocity pistols and shotguns were still being sucked into the screaming maw of the wormhole. The riflemen on the roof weren't hitting anyone (yet) as the gravity well of the wormhole couldn't stop the high-velocity rounds but altered their trajectory making them hit the ground far short of their intended targets.

Still, a retreat to solid cover seemed like a good idea. At least until the advancing wormhole sword crushed an old scrub oak tree to splinters and sucked in the splinters. Any time it got near the ground, great gashes were ripped from the earth and the resulting rubble vanished down its greedy Hellmouth. Seeing that, they piled into vehicles and drove a short distance from the area. Bravery was one thing, but hurling yourself down a cosmic wormhole leading into the void was pointless.

Ron heard a loud crash and felt the building shake. Looking up he saw that rifle barrels were no longer visible sticking out over the roof at the front of the building when he heard people shouting and a burst of gunfire. KP!

Tossing a grapple to the roof, he climbed the line in a time that would have set records in gym class. A Navy Seal gym class. Peering over the edge using a small mirror, he saw four riflemen with their back to him looking over the edge, behind the building. Off to the side was an open trap door. Not great, but it was what he had to work with.

Feeling a rage not his own coming up beside him, he imagined the glare of red swirling eyes and heard a feline snarl along with a hissing, "Kill them all." Pulling Rufus out of his pocket and letting him look in the mirror, the two MMP charged fighters then vaulted over the wall.

Ron thought about tossing a pair of flash-bangs down the open trap door but was afraid that Kim and Rhi might be on their way up. Relying on pure speed for protection, they rushed the riflemen. The human Monkey Master struck the man on the far left three times. First, striking the rifle in an unsuccessful attempt to break it, next he struck the man's gun arm above the elbow and finally a strike to the knee to drop him to the roof.

"Damn it!" the Mystical Master swore when his foe fell over the wall with a scream of pain to the ground below. KP would have to worry about him now.

Rufus was on the head of the man on the far right, clawing and biting. The wise rat Monkey Master reasoned that since cuts to the head bleed totally out of proportion to the actual damage inflicted maybe the blood dripping into his foe's eyes would be disabling. However, the otherwise intelligent rat had not sufficiently studied his foe.

"Get it off!", his foe screamed, "It's an alien mind ripper, it's going to take over my brain, help me!"

Rufus unwisely went with the flow and started screeching "Brains! Brains! nom nom nom" in a high pitched voice followed by his best guess of an alien's hissing cackle of glee.

Ron, to his surprise, saw the other two riflemen on the roof were ignoring him and aiming their rifles at the man thrashing around, trying to dislodge a dodging Rufus.

Dropping the second foe with a triple strike to his head, arm, and knee, he was horrified to hear the remaining man with a rifle say, "It's OK, Zeb, I won't let them take your body. Stand still and it will be over in a second, buddy."

The man that Rufus was working over stopped struggling and stood up straight and said: "God bless you, John…"

Desperately and off-balance, Ron reached out and struck at the rifle trying to spoil the man's aim as Rufus dove to safety.

The rifle, its aim knocked upward by a hit from Ron's staff spat out the first couple of rounds when a flash and crack announced that shielding on the zero point generator in the basement had failed. The high-speed metal bullets speeding through the constantly forming and collapsing electromagnetic fields generated a tremendous voltage with the result that the rifle was struck by lightning traveling down the conductive path created by the burning gunpowder. Bulges and cracks appeared on the rifle as its stored ammo exploded. Stunned by the electrical shock, 'John' fell to the roof, followed by 'Zeb' apparently fainting from sheer terror.

"Pippa!" a squeaky scream came from the mole bat struggling out of the relative safety of his pocket and flew down the open trap door.

"On it!" squeaked Rufus, running after his grandchild, diving down through the door.

The human monkey master quickly zip-tied the men on the roof and was about to follow Rufus and Brina when his earpiece alerted him,

"Ron! I've got Justine on the line! We need to talk! NOW!" Wade's urgent voice came from the damned earpiece.

"Wade, kind of busy right now," Listening, he heard crashes, cries of pain and then someone screaming "I surrender! I surrender!"

"OK, Wade, I might have a few seconds," he gritted out in frustration, "What's up?"

"Ronald," Justine's voice betrayed more worry and concern that he had ever heard from the cool, collected genius, "Those fools are running the PDVI in linear overload mode. Given how long it's been running, it can't be shut down without triggering an energy discharge."

"Energy discharge? You mean explode?"

Her voice returned to its typical, calm haughtiness, "If I meant 'explode', I would have said explode. The energy discharge will destroy everything within a hundred mile radius or so, but the PDVI itself will be found undamaged and sitting in the middle of the crater. I estimate that if you do nothing, the overload will trigger an even larger energy discharge in perhaps twenty to thirty minutes. Given the configuration of that cobbled together weapon, I recommend that you…"

'Damn, I got to get swearing lessons from Rhi,' he thought, listening to Justine's plan. "Thanks, Justine. Wade, I thought I saw Federal Marshal Alethea in the area. Can you contact her?"

"Yes! She's carrying the mini-Kimmunicator we gave her. I'll tell her what is going on."

"Great, tell her that I disabled four riflemen on the roof, one fell off behind the building. I am going down to meet up with Kim and Rhi. Oh! Tell her that a zero point generator is in operation, warn them about using firearms near the building. And don't mess with the swordsman, he's ours."

"Gotcha Ron, take care."

* * *

Ron walked to the open trap door where he bashed a militiaman charging up through the open trap door, dropping the body on the roof. Seeing the opening was large enough for him to avoid the stairs altogether, he jumped through the opening landing lightly on the floor beside the stairs. A flurry of staff strikes dropped two men holding rifles with fixed bayonets that were guarding the stairway down to the first floor. A dark-haired woman crouched making herself as small a target as possible besides a desk with some sort of workstation with monitors. Two other men in camo fatigues dropped their weapons and held up their hands. A blue streak raced up the stairs leading to the ground floor, running across the floor and upon his shoulder.

"Kim, Rhi, OK. First floor, basement secure," squeaked Rufus.

The Monkey Master turned to the two men who surrendered, "Turn around, hands behind your back," he commanded, stepping over to them, pulling out a pair of zip cuffs.

With a sudden grin, the man on the left swept Ron's hands to the side with his left hand as he lunged with a knife in his right aimed at just under Ron's ribs.

Ron responded with an elbow strike under his foe's chin, driving forward with a flash of blue resulting in a crunch of breaking bones as his attacker's head struck the concrete wall behind him. The knife skittered across in a glancing blow without piercing the Ninja uniform's reinforced fabric. The Monkey Master turned to the remaining man as his attacker fell to the ground, neck bent at an unnatural angle.

The second man dropped another weapon then turned around and put his hands behind his body. Ron looked at the weapon. It looked like a cross between a derringer and a push dagger. It had a short, stubby barrel for a single shotgun shell instead of a blade. It was pretty clever, by pushing the barrel against your opponent before firing, you avoided the lightning effect of using a firearm in the area of a zero point energy generator, plus the propellant gases in the shell added extra damage to your victim.

Lucia was a woman of science. She was a college professor, several of her family were scientists, like Hans. Granted, there were bakers like Hildegarde, but there were no mystics or believers in ghosts or anything supernatural. After Bill Ian had gone up the stairs to check on his men, there was a thud and a black-clad Ninja dropped in and disabled the two men by the stairs going down with a staff. That was like an action movie. When he went to put handcuffs on the other two, he responded against a sneak attack, again like an action movie. Except that he was momentarily covered in a glowing blue aura that gave his body the shape of a monkey, complete with tail.

Apparently, he was out of patience because when the second man turned around to be cuffed, the Ninja struck the man on the head with his staff, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Hopefully, the man was just unconscious, but the hard glare of the Ninja's luminescent blue eyes didn't seem to care. Walking over to her, he growled, "Friend or Foe?"

"Uh, foe, I suppose…" she stammered in reply.

"Follow me." He commanded, jogging down the stairs.

Surprised that he would turn his back on an admitted foe, she was startled by a vision of large glowing red eyes, swirling in anger, staring at her with a hissing sound. Shaking her head to clear the vision, she followed meekly down the stairs.

Getting to the bottom of the steps, he was startled by a Hammer crashing through a wall. Following it with his eyes, he saw the handle slap into his KP's hand. Muscles bulging with effort, she hurled it at the wall where it tore another piece out of the wall. There was a secondary crashing sound complete with breaking glass, a brief honk from an automotive horn and when the Hammer returned, there was now a door-sized hole in the wall leading to the outside.

She strode over to the annoyed Mystical Monkey Master, grabbed him and kissed him fiercely, "Listen, Mister, I'm 'di di mau'ing just as fast as I can, so back off. I had to beat down some of these guys and then make a door," she growled.

Returning the kiss, he said, "We need to go stop a maniac from blowing up the state. Rhi! Come here please."

Rhianna rolled up in her hamster ball, a naked mole rat on each shoulder and a growing shiner over her left eye. She was barefoot and was wearing dark red uniform pants. Reminding himself to ask later, he reached into the golden sphere and placed his hands on the juncture of her shoulders and neck. MMP energy flowed into her so fast it was almost painful. Within mere seconds her power levels were topped off and her eyes were glowing blue.

"Get everyone you can outside and away from the building. If they give you any trouble, break them and leave them behind," he commanded in a voice loud enough for the surrendered henchmen to hear.

"I hear and obey, Sensei," she replied loudly with a wicked twinkle in her eyes as she pulled all the blue and people began to hear the sound of angry monkeys screaming.

Ron watched his half-sister, her body wreathed in blue fire start to hustle the defeated Henchmen outside, some having to help carry others. 'Wait, why does that one guy have no pants? Hey, I have a pair of Rainbow Sparkle Kitty boxers like that…' he wondered as a strong hand gripped him, pulling him back to the here and now.

"OK, Monkey Boy, what's this about blowing up the state?"

* * *

Lady Kim stood at her beloved Mystical Monkey Master's side in front of the building. The swordsman was stumbling back in their direction, the TV news van his latest victim. "One more time, with punctuation, please and thank you," she asked.

"Justine says that the swordsman is dead, he just doesn't know it yet," he wearily repeated slowly, "The PDVI has been running for so long that it is overloaded. If we try to destroy it or turn it off, it will explode and take out a big chunk of the state. If we do nothing, it will explode in a few minutes and take out a bigger chunk of the state. We have to strike the connection cable hard between the sword grip and the vortex so the cone should fold back on the PDVI and it will be sucked into the collapsing wormhole. Probably. So I will slip to the side, you keep him focused on moving forward. I will leap in and strike it with my staff."

"No. You have to be too close to hit it with the staff. Let me try the Hammer first. You getting sucked into the void would ruin my wedding." Seeing her love draw in a breath to object, Lady Kim tilted her head a little, her eyes grew larger and her lower lip started to tremble.

"OK, OK, give it a try," he grumbled. They were facing the end of this part of the world and his KP was pulling the puppy dog pout on him! Lord forgive him, but right now, he loved his life and his KP. She wound up like a baseball pitcher and muscles straining with the throw, hurled the Hammer, sending it flying off to the side. It circled back and struck the wire between the sword hilt and the wormhole cone, causing the wire to fold back around the Hammer with the cone following around in a circle. It was over in a slow-motion instant, the swordsman started to scream as his body was pulled apart as the wormhole sucked him, his backpack with the PDVI, the wire along with the Hammer it was now wrapped around and even the wormhole itself into the Hellmouth. The silence was sudden and deafening. Nothing but a scoured clean depression remained where the Sword of Freedom consumed itself, Dr. Feasance, the PDVI, and Mjöllnir.

"We are done," Ron declared.

"What?" Kim was still shaking off the image of the poor swordsman getting pulled apart as the wormhole opening devoured him and then itself.

Looking up the road, he pointed to SUVs and pickup approaching along with a couple of Highway Patrol Cruisers, the pointed down the road where police vehicles that had retreated were returning. Along with a large black sedan that practically screamed 'Federal Agent.'

The golden hamster ball rolled up to them and popped, Rhi stepped up to the pair with a naked mole bat on each shoulder.

"So, now what? I'm thinking we're not getting out of her without getting grilled. How did you guys manage to just go back home after a mission in the old days?"

"OK," started Ron, "here is how it is going to go down. Wade? You there, buddy?"

"I'm here, you guys need a ride?" answered the best tech man on the planet.

"We'll give them thirty minutes, Wade if it looks like someone wants to hang onto us after that, send us a ride." Ron said, then making sure that both young women heard, he continued, "We don't get separated, we're the big damn heroes in this adventure, they'd better figure that out quick."

"Uh, Ron?" Kim pulled at her armor, "My armor is already getting loose, in fifteen minutes, it will be falling off me and I don't have any clothes to change into."

"Not a problem, boss" the new sidekick raised a hand to Kim and chanted "tif ot ecuder; lauteprep" a few times. The armor the redhead was wearing visibly shrank and became form fitting on her shrinking body. "See?" the young magician said, grinning, "that's how I got these pants to fit."

"Rhi," the Monkey Master remembered an earlier thought, "Why did you need to steal that henchman's pants? What happened to your mission clothes?"

 _ **Alternate Scene**_

 _ **I know it must seem like I write down everything that wanders through my brain, but I actually do rewrite things occasionally. Especially if one of my early readers/sanity checkers throws a flag. For example, this part was a little too Rambo. Fun to write, but it would have Ron crossing a line that I didn't want him to cross.**_

Tossing a grapple to the roof, Ron climbed the line in a time that would have set records in gym class. A Navy Seal gym class. Peering over the edge using a small mirror, he saw four riflemen with their back to him looking over the edge, behind the building. Off to the side was an open trap door. Not great, but it was what he had to work with. Pulling Rufus out of his pocket, the two MMP charged fighters vaulted over the wall.

Ron tossed a pair of flash-bangs down into the open trap door. Rushing the gunmen, they almost had total surprise. The human Monkey Master crushed the skull of the man on the far left, dropping his staff and sliding in behind him before he could fall. The idiot had been resting his finger on the trigger of his automatic rifle. It was the work of only a split-second to reach around, aim the automatic rifle and take up the slack on the trigger. He emptied the clip into the remaining rifleman at nearly point blank range. The second and third gunmen never knew he was there because they were trying to aim at the rat Monkey Master who was tearing the throat out of the fourth man.

"Show off!" grumbled the rat Monkey Master, jumping free of his falling and now shredded foe.


	23. Shotgun Wedding

_**Author's Note**_

My thanks to CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who have provided inspiration, ideas, plot hole detection and encouragement. Any remaining problems or deficiencies with this story are entirely my property. :)

All the Kim Possible characters belong to Disney, Kaa and Bagheera are from Kipling (although I am guessing that Disney owns them also), and nobody owns little kittens, they own you. The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

Judge Q. Hector Snobblestone, his shotgun and Wanda Wang the Ninja are courtesy of Sentinel103.

If you are a Helldivers (Arrowhead Game Studios) player, the team's ride home might seem familiar.

The sitch concerning Jim, Tim and Thora was from plot bunny tossed my way by Daccu65. It was funny and I hope the humor survived when I integrated it into the storyline.

 _ **Interviews**_

(One hour ago)

Sheriff Dayna Backer, a stocky, athletic brunette introduced herself to the trio that was "Team Possible" saying, "Ms. Possible, I expect that your tech support guy has a pickup scheduled for you. I would ask that you plan on being around here for the next hour or so. That should be enough time for me to wrap up your part of this business."

She watched Ron turn away, put his hand to his ear and speak quietly. While he did that, Kim frowned as she voiced a peeve she had about others messing with their equipment, "When the people here were checking our stuff for contraband, it appears that our Kimmunicators and other possessions were destroyed. At least that is what they told us…"

The hour had passed by quickly. At one point, Mr. Smith and Mr. Smith had driven up in a black sedan and collected Professor Dementor. Driving her away, supposedly to the airport. Rhianna suspected they were backing the Professor to install a U.S. friendly government, but the rest of them thought that sounded silly.

The State Police had been more than happy to let Sheriff Backer handle the interview with Team Possible, while they rounded up the Children of the Constitution that were ambulatory and present during the shooting. They got names and contact information for the other members that had come to reinforce their colleagues and turned them loose. Most of them were shocked at the raw power of the Sword of Freedom. A few seemed angry that 'those kids' had destroyed it along with Dr. Mel by sending it down the wormhole. A couple of men were angry that something that looked like a flying hammer had shattered the engine block on their pickup.

Joined by the Federal Marshals who observed and listened, but didn't ask any questions themselves, the group walked around and through the building retracing the Team's actions. Rufus and his grandkids were like little bloodhounds, pointing out evidence.

The Sheriff had completed her initial notes and was making sure she had contact information when a whistling sound announced the arrival of a strobe light on a lance sticking in the ground about 50 yards from the building. A masculine voice announced "Extraction confirmed. Shuttle inbound. ETA one minute thirty seconds."

"I think that's our ride," The blond turned to walk in the direction of the beacon.

"Ms. Possible, let me talk to you privately a second," the Sheriff quietly said as she waved the others on, then started walking to the beacon at a slower pace so that they fell behind the others. "Kimberly, I became a Sheriff because of you. Remember a mission here about three years ago where you stopped some supervillain wannabe with a stolen mega-weather generator?"

"I think so," the redhead replied.

"You, Ronald and Rufus saved my town, saved our livelihoods. Granted, Main Street was only five blocks long, but after you stopped the bad guys and shut down their machine, you guys spent several hours helping fill sandbags to protect stores and apartments on Main Street from flooding. Because of you two, nobody lost their homes or their business. Before anyone could so much as give you a 'thank you', you guys took off because 'we have homework to finish'."

"Know what impressed me the most?" asked the Sheriff.

"That a couple of kids were fighting crime on a school night?" guessed the redhead.

"Granted, that a couple of kids stopped a dangerous villain and protected a town was pretty impressive. But the amazing part was that nobody was seriously hurt, not even the henchmen." The Sheriff grabbed Kim by the arm to stop her. They were almost at the beacon and she still hadn't said what she wanted to say privately.

"T minus one minute," announced the beacon.

"Kimberly, your example inspired me to run for Sheriff. I am very proud that in the two years I have been the Sheriff, I have not had to fire my weapon outside of practice. And I've taken in some pretty tough characters. Now, I know that today was different, some of these 'henchmen' carried deadly weapons. They took two bodies out of that building and more people on stretchers. I guarantee that the local prosecutor won't file any charges against any of your team. But please watch out for Ronald. The people you fought walked out on their own power. All of Ronald's foes had to be carried out. Two in a body bag."

Holding up a hand to stop the redhead's impending protest, she continued, "I know, that isn't fair given your different situations. If I was in Ronald's place this might have been the day I used my weapon. But I was next to him that evening filling sandbags and this Ronald isn't the cheerful, bit of a goof that I remembered. He seems grimmer, angry even."

Kim took a breath then said, "I have been, well, out of the country and more importantly out of touch with everyone for months. When Ron came for me, I was being held for a court trial. This was taken from me, " she held up her artificial hand, "and I was beaten while I was being held in a dungeon. Beaten so badly I required surgery. The place I was at allows duels as part of their legal process. When Ron found out I had been hurt, well, it wasn't pretty. But Dr. Feasance isn't the only blood on my hands either. I foolishly took this mission without Ron because he was called back to that place to resolve some issues. Had these people hurt me or Rhianna, more people would have been carried out in body bags."

"T minus thirty seconds," called out the beacon.

Looking into the young hero's eyes, the sheriff thought about what she had just been told and what she knew about the team. She made one last comment, "Kim, I still believe that you and Ron are not only the good guys but crime fighters I can look up to. You both look worn out, can you guys get a chance to step back from missions and rest?"

"I hope not **too** much rest," was the laughing reply, "we have been separated for months and we are getting married in a day or two.

"You don't know when you are getting married? The most important day in your life and you don't know which day?"

"T minus fifteen seconds," called out the beacon.

"There will be more important days and life's been kinda crazy lately. Maybe we can get together sometime for a long lunch and I can tell you all about it."

"I would love to hear about your recent adventures, Ms. Possible…."

"T minus five seconds…, **shuttle arriving** ," announced the beacon.

A Lowardian Fast Attack Shuttle with Joss hanging out the open doorway came screaming in for a combat retrieval. It almost landed, technically, the skids touched the ground but the thrusters were fully powered so none of the shuttle's weight rested on the ground. Joss waved at them as the people close by scattered to get out of the dust kicked up by the thrusters.

"Come on, y'all, get them butts moving! We got a wedding to get to!" Joss's voice was amplified and boomed over the howl of thrusters.

Team Possible ran into the open side door and held onto grab bars inside the shuttle as its thrusters went to full combat power and then thundered its way up into the sky in a vertical takeoff, the side doors sliding shut. The shuttle had been on the ground less than ten seconds.

Bill Ian watched the alien craft pick up Team Possible and roar into the heavens. "Should have guessed that those kids were part of the Liberal Government/Alien conspiracy…"

 _ **Back to the House**_

"Ms. Pimm, allow me to look at that injury," Warluse, the team medic, stood easily on the bouncing deck, ignoring the acceleration that threatened to force the young humans to their knees. Taking his offered hand, the young woman, whose shiner was now fully developed, let him assist her back to the first medic bay. Pippa and Brina weren't sure that they trusted the medic and went along for the ride, clinging to Rhi's shirt for dear life.

"Are either of y'all hurt?" asked Joss, waving them to seats forward from the door.

"We're good," replied Kim, looking at her lover for confirmation.

They plopped into seats just as the shuttle rumbled and shook as the thrusters shifted from vertical to forward thrust. Rufus was caught off guard by the change and a quick grab from Ron saved him from bouncing down the aisle.

Warlanse, the Lowardian team lead, unperturbed by the bouncing, helped them with the unfamiliar seat restraints and asked, "What happened to that weapon? The one that appeared to generate the wormhole?"

It was clear that the team leader of the Lowardian Emperor's Blades was unhappy with the information that the trio gave him. When Ron said that he was glad the "PDVI had been sucked into the wormhole because it might as well be a book at a public library since the government science types didn't seem to be able to hang onto it", the huge green warrior grimly muttered something about "That trice cursed object will turn up sooner or later." Shaking off that thought, he continued, "No holes in the planet, no holes in any of the team, and the immediate threat neutralized, I count that as a success. You did good."

Pausing to listen to something that only he heard, he said, "Ms. Pimm has a fractured cheekbone. 'Luse wants to treat it while we fly back."

"Back to ranch?" Rufus asked, noticing that his humans had started nuzzling each other as soon as they heard that the mission was considered a success.

"Back to the Mad Dog's school. The wedding has been moved there. We were instructed to bring all of you back no matter what by Mrs. Dr. P."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Valkyrie Training Hall…

"Very good, everyone" praised Aurboða, who had been leading a class of about twenty Valkyries through the last dance move of a new routine. Looking at Carlynn, she asked, "You've done this before?"

"Yes, Mom and Aunt Sue did belly dancing for years and I used to go with them to lessons in middle school and junior high."

"OK, shall we do a routine with swords, or scarves, next?" Aurboða asked the group, as the large woman walked over to a couple of storage chests along the wall.

"Swords please, Sensei," said Wanda, thinking that dramatic would be more fun than graceful tonight.

About an hour later, the twenty or so Valkyries and two Midgardians were wrapping up their session when a rainbow-colored, oval-shaped portal opened in the training room and Heimdallr, the tall, pale watcher stepped through.

"Please excuse the interruption," he intoned, "I am able to open the Bifrost again. I have noticed Lady Kim and her Mate have just completed a task and people are starting to gather for the celebration of their nuptials. I am at your service whenever you are ready to return."

"Very well, Heimdallr-Sensei, we will meet you at your cottage in about an hour or two. That will give us time to shower, change clothes and be ready to travel. Correct Carlynn-san?" Wanda bowed politely while checking to see her companion nod in agreement.

"This portal will take you back to your apartment, I will wait for your arrival," the watcher intoned, stepping through the portal.

After goodbyes were said, the two Midgardian girls started toward the portal. Carlynn looked through the opening and with a small cry of distress ran through it with Wanda following in a wary rush.

Bjort and Aurboða looked at each other in confusion and followed the two young Midgardians.

* * *

He had been abandoned, left to die alone in the dark. When the Light of his life had gone off with the others, promising to be back in a couple of hours, he had put on a brave face, telling her to have fun, that he would be fine. For a while, he had done well enough, listening to strange, yet somehow familiar music from a small device that his intended had shown him how to use. Some of the music made him feel happy as if he associated them with events that he couldn't remember. Some of the music was uplifting and some cheerful, but then he hit a string of songs that nearly broke his heart. When he got to the one where the singer lost his dog, his pickup truck, and finally his girl, he pretty much lost it.

Knowing that his intended would be ashamed of him for being so weak a specimen of a male, he managed to stop the sobs but was still reduced to a ball of misery tightly curled up on the couch. He knew intellectually that she was just a woman and that he had the potential to make her happy, but then despair at her absence flooded his very being, swamping out all rational thought. Perhaps it would be better to just die and remove the agony of this unnatural, intense longing for her from his soul and the burden of his worthless self from his intended…

* * *

Carlynn ran over to the couch to find Sigbjorn unconscious, pale, and barely breathing.

Unable to get a response, she turned in panic to Bjorn and Aurboða, "Help him! What's the matter with him?"

Aurboða stretched the young man out and propped up his shoulders with a pillow to make it easier for him to breathe.

"Did you go straight to the hafla from here?" asked Bjorn.

"No, we stopped for lunch and browsed through the shops, probably two hours or so before we met you and the other Valkyries."

"That's not good, he was separated from you for maybe five or six hours and he is nearly dead?" remarked Bjort.

"He is dying simply because you weren't here?" Aurboða was stunned. She thought about it a minute and declared "Let him die."

"What?! We can't do that!" the young woman was panicked.

"Of course, you can! It is not your responsibility if this weakling can't exist without you. A true man lives for justice and caring for his people, not for the attentions of some woman."

The large woman put her hands on her hips and continued, "What happens if you save him? Do you really think that he will be grateful? Or does he believe his life is so important that he deserves your attentions? Do you believe that a day will not come when you tire of him and he becomes a burden?"

The large woman put her hand on the young woman's shoulder in sympathy, "I recommend you leave him here to die and go back home to get on with your life. You will surely find a real man for a mate. It will be less pain all the way around for all concerned." The Jotunn healer turned away taking Bjort by the arm and walked to the portal saying, "Someone will be by later to pick up the body."

The two young women watched the pair step through the portal and the portal collapse behind them.

"Wanda, what do I do?" she pleaded, sitting on the couch reaching for the dying man's face, but pausing as if afraid to touch him, "It's not his fault that he was made this way!"

"No, it is not Sigbjorn's fault, but is he your responsibility? Should you pay the cost of keeping him alive?", the Ninja swore under her breath. She had managed to shift her 'What Women Want' class teaching to Bjort and Aurboða, but was it her fate to be a relationship counselor from now on? When she herself had never had a serious relationship? Still, this Ninja would not shirk her duty…

"But what if he really will die without me?" wailed the young sorority sister.

"Would it make a difference if he were old and ugly instead of young and cute?"

"Wanda! I'm not trying to figure out a general principle, I'm trying to figure out what to do right now!"

"If you can save him right now, then there is a chance that whatever binds him to you can be broken. If not, then he can always die later," pointed out the relationship Ninja, "Or perhaps you will decide that he is a suitable mate. Can you save him without going against your moral code?"

"I'll try." She touched his face, his skin felt cold and clammy. "Sigbjorn?", she murmured, "Siggy Bear? I'm here." She gently kissed his forehead. "Come back to me."

* * *

He was so close to sweet oblivion, the release from the agony of needing Her, the pain of being so weak, when he heard a Voice calling him back to life, back to pain.

He opened his eyes and his Light was looking at him, tears in her eyes. His agony increased when he guessed that he was the cause of those tears.

"Let me go," he croaked, "you deserve better and I want to be free."

"Maybe I do deserve better, but your death will upset me and besides, it is a suck-ass day to die." His Light then bent down and firmly kissed his lips.

Her simple kiss scoured away the anguish strangling his heart. There would doubtless be a better day to die.

 _ **Married at Last**_

Monique practically skipped up the steps to the NOPE sorority house. Two of her best friends were getting married today. It wasn't the dream wedding she had hoped for. Instead of using her elite design skills to design and make the perfect wedding dress, she had only been able to add pockets to the simple, off-the-rack, A-line, tea-length dress that she, Kim, and Ron's sorority 'sisters' had picked out. She had successfully petitioned Coco Banana into looking at her ideas for adding pockets to women's fashions. The sisters of NOPE were excited enough about the chance of getting useful pockets in clothes, that they had made sure that Mr. Banana was invited to the wedding.

Stepping through the door into the large great room, she froze in horror, the blood draining from her face. All the NOPE 'sisters' were covered in red. Blood red, international danger red, a red that was too bright for a fire engine. She felt weak in the knees when her unbelieving brain registered that all that red was on velvet. The horror intensified when her brain became numb enough to register the green stitching and piping. The piping highlighted the many cargo pockets covering the garment. The sisters were wearing red velvet overalls, with one strap undone with a black off-the-shoulder crop top underneath.

"Monique, there you are!" Mercedes, the house president, walked up looking concerned at the catatonic fashionista who had visibly paled at the sight before her, "Are you OK, dear? I think you look a little pale. Carlynn found these absolutely gorgeous outfits! The one-strap look is really big in Europe according to Vague Magazine and the color is so much more vibrant than that boring old ivory that we got for Kim the other day, don't you think? And they've even got pockets!"

"Mo! Where ya been, girl, it's almost time, here, change into these," Monique turned to find Kim holding out a set of clothes for her. Red. Velvet. Clothes…"

"Ms. Jenkins, Coco is ready to see your idea for pockets for our Summer Line," said a dark-skinned European man in a purple suit as he walked up…

"Monique! Monique! You're having a nightmare!" Jessica shook the wildly shivering dark girl gently by the shoulders. The door burst open and several other sisters ran in.

"Jess! Is she OK?" one of them asked, holding out a cold-water bottle.

"Beats the heck out of me," she replied, taking the water to give to her still trembling, distraught, temporary roommate. "I swear that not all of us Mad Dogs have PTSD and wake up in screaming nightmares." Then under her breath, she muttered, "Especially not about red velvet…"

* * *

"Dad! No! I won't ask him and you don't dare ask him either!" Irate green eyes glared at the somewhat clueless rocket scientist.

"But Honey, don't you want this day to be a day to remember?"

"No! I just want to publicly declare my marriage to Ron in front of a few people, have a nice lunch then run off to a secret location for a nice, quiet, honeymoon. No supervillains, no gods, no aliens, and especially no LOX-boosted grilling. Just me and Ron. With **no scorch marks on MY RON**!"

"But Kimmie, this will be a great way for Ron to put a stamp on _your_ most important day….."

"Dear, please, stop teasing your daughter," laughed Ann as she stepped up and led the annoyed redhead out of the foyer and into the great room of the NOPE mansion. The former arena for a 'contest of honor' by naked pillow fight was again cleared of furniture, but instead of mattresses, rows of chairs filled the room with an aisle down the middle.

At the far end of the aisle, next to a podium, Judge Smithy and Judge Snobblestone stood in front of a serious Mercedes Bethune. After speaking briefly to the two judges, she solemnly flipped a large coin and snatched it out of the air. Slapping the coin onto the back of her hand, she displayed it to the two judges. Both Judges smiled, but it was Judge Smithy who walked back with the brunette to a chair in the third row.

Ann led her daughter over to Jean who was waiting with her son. Smiling at each other, the young couple walked hand in hand down the aisle to the Judge, followed by their mothers who slipped around them, sitting next to their husbands and other children.

"Kimberly, Ronald, I understand that you two want to get married."

"Yes, sir," replied both teens.

"Why? Kimberly, I'll ask you first."

"I want to publicly declare my love and eternal devotion for Ron. I knew that I loved him our senior year but events during graduation and afterward have proven to me that I will never find a better friend, lover, husband, and partner. I want to assuage any doubts he has about that by my public declaration," replied the redhead.

"What about you, Ronald?"

"Sir, I love her and want to be there for her. I believe that we still have emotional growing to do, but we have grown for years side by side and I honestly think we can continue to do so. Being her husband gives me the power to intercede on her behalf when being just a friend isn't good enough," the blond explained.

Judge Snobblestone reached behind the podium and pulled out a pump action shotgun. Pumping it to put a shell in the chamber, the judge glared out at the astonished crowd.

"Does anyone have a reason why these two should not be married?" he snarled.

Total silence.

"Does anyone have a save-the-world mission of any other fool thing that these two need to run off to instead of getting married and going on a honeymoon?", he continued.

The silence continued as the grim Arbiter of Justice scanned the crowd.

"OK, then," said the Judge, removing the shell from the chamber and putting the shotgun back inside the podium.

"Do you have rings?" he asked the couple with a beaming smile blossoming on his face.

Kim held out her left hand and Ron moved the gold ring from her middle finger to her ring finger. Holding onto her hand an extra moment, he bent over and kissed the ring.

Grinning at the kiss, Kim took Ron's left hand and moved the ring on his middle finger over to his ring finger. Copying his action, she bent and kissed his ring.

"Wait!" a teary-eyed Jessica ran up carrying a small box, "Sindri and Brock asked me to give you these. Inkeri told them that diamond rings were often worn as tokens of a married couple. I think they misunderstood." She opened the box and the young couple reached in and each took out a ring. They were a pure rainbow of color and sparkling fire, each slender band appeared to be carved out of a single diamond.

The couple repeated their earlier actions and these rings, like the earlier ones, vibrated a little as they resized to fit their finger.

"Any other rings?" asked the Judge, resisting the impulse to tease the couple by asking if anyone had a nose ring for the blond.

The Judge signed a document and passed the pen to Jessica and then Monique to sign the document as witnesses. "You are now husband and wife. Take some time to relax and have fun. Let someone else have a turn at saving the world." Clearing his throat, he added, "I believe a kiss is now in order."

To the cheering of the people present, they did.

* * *

"Coco worries that women will place too many things in their pockets and look lumpy," the dark European frowned critically at the sides of Kim's dress, "Kimberly, what do you have in your pockets?"

Remembering that this was in payback for not letting Monique design an "Ultimate" wedding dress for a picture book wedding, the redhead smiled and reached into her pockets, their openings were hidden in the pleats of her skirt. "I have a money clip and credit card holder in this pocket and my cellphone and keys in this one," pulling out the items and displaying them.

"See!" exclaimed Carlynn, "She doesn't look lumpy and can carry what she needs to take care of herself during a night out. No purse to keep track of, no need for some guy to pay for stuff."

"Coco isn't convinced, he worries about loss of clean feminine lines for the clothes. No woman wants to look lumpy…"

"Its an option, sir," pointed out Monique, "Especially for jeans and shorts. Most of them already have a fake pocket or two, why not make them real?"

"Are you sure it's not the loss of sales from matching purses that you are worried about?" Carlynn pressed, "But trust me, women want real pockets! You add pockets and they will beat down the doors of your stores to buy them!" Carlynn saw her chance to win a victory for the women of the world and was going for it.

"If you all will forgive me, I need my wife," the redhead's blonde knight came to her rescue, gently taking her by the arm. They slipped out of the dining room where guests were talking and having dessert and coffee.

 _ **Reception**_

Kim grasped her lover's, no, her husband's arm with both of her hands and laid her head briefly on his shoulder as they walked into the great room now cleared of most chairs and where they found their dads tending bar.

Paksmason, after some research, pointed out, to many people's surprise that while **purchase** and/or **possession** of alcohol were illegal for those under 21 in this state, there were exceptions for **consumption**. One of those exceptions included minors under the supervision of a parent or guardian while in a public gathering, like a wedding. Commander Pakshok found himself the temporary legal guardian of about forty young NOPE sisters. These women were drinking responsibly under the stern supervision of the Commander and their bartenders although the smarter ones learned to go to Gene or Slim for mixed drinks. (Gene followed recipes exactly while Slim's tended to be generous on the alcohol.) Others learned to pull James into a discussion of whiskeys including 'taste tests'.

Surprisingly, it was Nana who was off at a corner table sipping Mexican Flags (one shot each of sangrita, tequila blanc, and lime juice) with grad student Pavlina and Karli Eisenfaust the NOPE house mother. (Sipped, not shot as it was very good tequila.)

The young couple made their way through a steady drizzle of congratulations over to the bar where Ann and Jean were working on some sort of reddish cocktails while Shego was sipping coffee.

"Well, hello, Mr. and Mrs.", Ann smiled at the couple, "About ready to blow this pop stand?" She held out an envelope.

"Say your goodbyes and let's jet," said their former foe, "We called ahead and the beach house is stocked and ready. We can be there in six hours."

There was a snort from a nearby Lowardian woman, "I can get them there in forty-five minutes in our shuttle."

"Right, Warhong, that's all they need is for your screaming shuttle to drop them off and let everyone within a five-mile radius know they are there. They want some alone time."

"It's only extractions where we don't care who knows we're there. On extractions, we've typically blown up enough stuff so we figure they already know we're there. No, if we can stick them in a drop tube and do a high-altitude combat insertion, the only way anyone would notice is if they landed on top of them."

"Thanks, but I'm thinking that a trip where you actually land the plane sounds…" Ron thought he was in trouble when he looked over at his new bride and saw the look in her eyes. He knew he was in trouble when he saw the sympathetic expressions on the faces of James, Gene, and Slim. He felt totally abandoned to his fate when he saw Rufus, Brina, and Pippa all waving goodbye from the end of the bar.

"…uh, actually, landing with the plane sounds too dull and boring as a start to my life married to the most bondiggity action heroine in the world," the blond finished with a grin that fooled no one present except possibly his excited bride.

"Have fun dears," laughed their moms.

Kim really was truly excited at the offer of a 'combat insertion' and perhaps a little jacked up on sugar from the Fresh Churros of Eternal Sisterhood that were being served in the dining room, but she hadn't lost situational awareness. That is, she knew that Ron really, really wanted to land at the beach house instead of some sort of alien version of a HALO drop. Plus that would give her time to catch up with Shego. She was about to reluctantly decline the Lowardian's offer when she noticed that all other conversation in the room had stopped. She followed the gaze of everyone in the room to see…

The NOPE house had been built with the concept of "introducing debutantes to society" and had a pair of long, curving staircases coming down from a balcony from the second story. Coming down the stairs on the right was Thora, Jim, and Tim. All three teens were stumbling slightly, had seriously disheveled hair and clothing, and sported wide vacant smiles. Belatedly noticing that every gaze was upon them, all three adopted a 'deer in the headlights' expression.

"Hicka Bicka Boo?" Tim murmured.

"Hoosha!" Jim quietly agreed.

"What… the… sitch!" Kim swore, stalking forward to stare them down. Ron and her parents were right on her heels.

"Ah… Lady Kim!" Thora addressed the older… yet younger… redhead. "I learned that while your brothers finish each other's sentences, that's not all they finish for each other."

"What!?" Kim growled, now fixing her eyes on the former god.

"Their teamwork is truly incredible," the newly mortal teen slurred. "Individually, they are quite capable. As a team, they are amazing! I now understand the concept of synergy; the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts."

A reluctant, yet inevitable realization came to the rest of those who could hear the conversation.

"You!" Kim pointed first at Tim. "And you…" now her finger was directed at Jim. "And you…" Thora now faced the end of her finger.

Silenced reigned as a series of emotions flooded across the bride's face. Finally, her irritation overcame her manners.

"You mean my little brothers got laid, at my wedding reception, before I did!?" she growled. Turning to her new husband, she continued, "C'mon, Ron, we've got a combat drop to catch!"

Shego put her coffee down on the bar and looked at Slim, "You Possibles are the best! Do you know where Joss is?"

"She's over in yon corner talking to Rhianna and Jessica, been there the whole time," Slim grimaced as Shego raised an eyebrow, "She and the boys have each had exactly one beer. If that affected their judgment then it must be from the Credible side of the family."

"Dr. Slim," Shego smiled, trying not to smirk, "Give me a couple of limes, a salt shaker and that bottle of golden tequila. Since I'm no longer the designated pilot, I'm going over to teach the side of your family that **can** handle alcohol how to drink tequila shots like a gringo." Laughing quietly while watching a fuming Kim drag Ron and a Lowardian woman out of the room, the former thief took the items and headed off to Nana's table.

* * *

"Is there a problem?" a huge man appeared next to Thora. The man wore an obviously formal doublet with a dress kilt.

"Yes! I thought you were supposed to be watching Thora!" Ann growled.

"I was. I made sure she wasn't too intoxicated and I saw her in the company of Lady Kim's brothers who I assumed were men of honor…" the huge man stared daggers at the two boys.

James didn't really know much about Scottish formal wear but thought while that a dagger might be appropriate, the small axe seemed a bit much?

"Thora, let's go have a talk! James, talk to your sons!" Ann commanded, grabbed Thora by the hand and stormed off.

Kjrr, believing that Ann was the greater danger, strode off after the pair.

"Boys, let's take a walk," James led his sons out the front stopping by the bar where Slim silently handed him a beer and the boys bottled water.

* * *

Arriving in Ron's basement lair, Ann turned to glare at the huge Viking that she, in her annoyance, hadn't noticed was following them.

"Wait! please, let me talk first!" the young girl pleaded, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Ann just nodded, not speaking because she would snap at Thora and she was trying to be calm and reasonable. She had disagreed with James on his 'black hole' threats and was really trying hard not to threaten to rewire the brains of any little Asgardian tarts who were seducing her sons. She pulled over a desk chair and sat down so she would not tower over the girl.

"First, I wish it to be known that Jim and Tim were perfect gentlemen in every way. They did not push their advances on me, in fact, I had to…"

"Seduce them?" Ann growled.

"No, my lady," Thora explained, "I truly believe that they would have withstood my clumsy attempts at seduction…"

"Aren't you like a couple of thousand years old? I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't know how to take advantage of my sons."

Ann flinched as a huge hand was laid on her shoulder very gently.

"Please, Lady Possible," the deep voice rumbled, 'let Thora speak. Then we both may speak. Or do other things." The latter sounded like a threat.

Ann nodded at Thora, "I apologize, please continue."

Thora pulled her legs underneath herself to sit cross-legged and spoke,

"Remember that a mere handful of days ago, I was Thor, the God of Lightning and Protector of Asgard. Then I failed to act honorably with your daughter and as punishment, I was changed from a mighty warrior to what you see here. The change first affected my body and later, my mind. I have a wife, or at least had one. She is every bit as beautiful as you, yet neither my memory of her nor the sight of you stirs any desire in my soul."

'This kid is pretty smooth for someone who claims to not have any seduction skills,' thought Ann.

"My memories of my life as a man and a god are fading. My time spent with Sif is fading as a dream. If I can't be changed back as my Mother claims that I can't, then I need to release her to find someone else who can do all the things a true mate can and _should_ do. To that end, I proposed to Tim and Jim that they help me…"

* * *

"Dad, she wanted to try an experiment," Tim claimed.

"Is _that_ what you kids are calling it these days?" his father replied.

"No! C'mon dad, you taught us better than that!" Jim said.

"She had a wife back when she was a 'he', Tim said.

"But if she can't have physical relations with her wife, then," Jim said,

"she needs to get a divorce so that her old wife can find a new guy," Tim was the voice of reason.

"But first, she needed to find out if she is wired for guys or girls," Jim continued with the reason.

* * *

"And that required you to have sex with my sons?" Ann blurted out.

"It was the most certain way for me to find out. They refused me at first, but then I got upset and sort of started crying and…"

* * *

" _Tears_ Dad, there were _tears_!" said Jim.

"I mean, she's really beautiful and all. We could have resisted _that_ ," said Tim.

"But **not** the _tears_!" said Jim.

* * *

"So, they tried to comfort me, then there was kissing and one thing led to another and…"

"I can figure out what happened next," growled Ann, "Did any of you think of pregnancy?"

* * *

"We used condoms, Dad," said Jim.

"We're not idiots!" declared Tim.

"You boys carry _condoms_?" James wasn't sure but figured he should be proud that the boys at _least_ used protection.

"Well, actually…, there was a box in the bathroom upstairs," Jim sheepishly admitted.

* * *

"So now what? What are your intentions with my sons?" demanded Ann.

"To be their friend if they allow it. I fear that any continued dalliances with them will break them up. The experience was far more intense than I was expecting, we should not repeat it any time soon. I realize now that we require more mental maturity for this kind of activity."

"Was it worth it?" Ann had less of a glare now.

"For me? Yes. Absolutely. My mind is _definitely_ wired for male affection. You will have to ask your sons that question now that some time has passed."

* * *

"What now boys?"

"This experience was _incredible_ , Dad," said Tim,

"but probably unrepeatable," added Jim.

"We would like to be her friend," said Tim,

"We just hope that she doesn't think we took advantage of her," admitted Jim.

"We didn't mean to," finished Tim.

"We just wanted to help someone we thought of as a friend," Jim explained.

"And to be fair, there were these briefing slides we found on Ron's computer this one time and we were curious…"

* * *

Ann decided that there was no punishment that she needed to administer. However, watching these three carefully would be required.

"Thora, when do you and Kjrr go back home?"

"I cannot return to Asgard until I have learned whatever I am fated to learn in this body. I am hoping to become Goddess of Justice and Defender of Realms. In the meantime, I must live in this world."

"I will be her mentor and protector," rumbled the young girl's armsman.

'Oh Lord,' thought Ann, 'this will not end well.'

"Have you a place to live?" she asked.

"Not yet," was the rumbled reply.

"Come to Middleton with us. I will help set you up somewhere. At least Middleton is used to strange things happening," Ann offered, thinking, 'and then I can keep track of you two and keep those tart's tears away from my boys.'

"That is most kind of you, Lady Possible," he replied, "we will gratefully accept your assistance."

* * *

Approximately twenty-seven percent of the NOPE sisters thought that Hana was absolutely the most adorable little girl that they had ever seen. Since Ron was her brother, well, that meant she was a legacy NOPE sister herself, right? This all meant that, at any given time today, there was at least a half-dozen young women doting on her and more importantly available to babysit. This gave Jean most of the day off from being a toddler's mom which she appreciated.

Evening had fallen and Lowardians had taken over bar duties from the dads. James had called for the hotel bus; given the shortage of close campus parking plus the alcohol he expected the adults of the two families to consume, they were using the hotel bus for transportation. The plan was to go back to the hotel, have a relaxed dinner with both families, and then be ready to drive home in the morning.

They were waiting on the front porch, Mercedes had gone in to track down and fetch Hana when they heard a cheerful Hana saying "Bear! Bear!".

Looking up they saw one of the NOPE sisters walking beside a young blond carrying a happy Hana.

"Hi," the young woman said, "I am Carlynn Brand. You could say that I'm a classmate of Ron's. This is…"

"Ron?", Jean looked stunned.

"Son?" Gene looked like something just didn't add up.

"Not brother!" protested Hana, "Bear!"

"I'm Sigbjorn," said the blond.

"Bear!" said Hana, patting the young man's head.

"Sigbjorn!" the blond teased the little girl, giving her a heart-stoppingly familiar goofy grin.

"No! Bear!" there was a glare of righteous toddler indignation.

"Sigbjorn!" the blonde rubbed noses with the little girl making her squeal with laughter.

"Kim and Ron done picked the wrong time to get married," said Joss.

"and leave the family to go on a honeymoon," added Tm

"'Cause things are just getting interesting here," finished Jim.


	24. Honeymoon

_**Honeymoon pt 1**_

 _ **Honeymoon pt 1**_

(On the Fast Attack Shuttle just after takeoff, Kim and Ron are looking at the note in the envelope that Ann had given them at the reception.)

 _ **Kimberly, Ronald,**_

 _ **We have set you up in the same EGBT safe house that Drakken and Shego use. You are registered at the resort under the names of Ronnie Smith and Kimmy Peers. The staff knows who you really are and have been told that you are trying to avoid the press and paparazzi.**_

 _ **Use your room key cards for shopping. Try to remember to sign charge slips with your cover names.**_

 _ **I've taken the liberty of asking a trauma counselor, an Edmee Reveuse to check up on you two. Her business card will say. "Dr. E Reveuse, trauma counselor and kitchen remodeling".**_

 _ **We all love you. You are booked for the resort for three weeks. Take advantage of this calm period. If nothing else, please give us Moms a break where we can have a normal, non-exciting life without worry. Just three weeks, that's all we ask.**_

 _ **Love, Ann & Jean**_

 _ **PS What are you guys doing for last names?**_

"So, what are we doing for last names, KP?" the new groom put the note back in the envelope and split the cards and 'walking around cash' with the new bride who actually had a money/card clip and pockets in her dress to put them in, thanks to her Fashionista BFF.

"Don't know. Stoppable-Possible has too many 'ables' in it and I like you calling me KP. KSP or KS just doesn't have the ring. We could try going up higher in our family tree. What do you think of Stormrider? Or Jones?"

"If we spell Stormrider with a silent P on the front, then you can still be KP or maybe I should change my name to be Psoppable," laughed the new groom.

* * *

Ron stared down at the iris-style hatch in the floor as it dilated open. Twenty minutes into the sub-orbital flight, the fast attack shuttle had docked with a drop ship long enough for the newlyweds and the three Emperor's Blades to transfer over. Warluse walked over carrying equipment cases that he dropped into the now open tube.

"Since you two are so small and skinny, we'll drop you both in the same tube. The two of you plus the equipment should be heavy enough for proper ground penetration on landing," the team leader said, picking up Ron and unceremoniously dropping him into the tube.

Warhong lowered his bride into his arms as if she understood how precious the redhead was to him, saying,

"Mad Dog, these are pretty much foolproof. Static fields will automatically engage to support you and help cushion you on impact. That's why we can drop you without any special clothing or body armor. This is a Commander's Tube, and you will be able to look around as you drop. Oh, congratulations on the marriage thing."

Before Ron could answer, he heard a feminine voice announce, "Hell port launch sequence initiated, crew to stations. I repeat, crew to stations." The iris above them closed and there was darkness.

"Ron?" 'Oh, Man,' Ron grumped to himself, 'KP's right here. I thought that in space no one could hear you scream.'

A soft, unseen pressure push the two together and into the center of the tube.

"Ron?" the voice repeated as the young heroine squirmed against the pressure of the static field until she was face to face with her Ron. HER RON.

"Yeah, KP?" he replied, sliding his arms around her and thinking, 'OK, maybe I can manage not to scream if I concentrate on how good she feels pressed against me. Booyah!'

"Thanks, honey, I know you don't like doing this kind of stuff, but…"

"I know, you heard the offer and jumped at the chance."

"Yeah. Anyway thanks. Oh, and Ron?", she softly murmured, squirming up his body until she was lip to lip with him "I never mentioned this before, but the adrenaline rush of a jump makes me a bit horny… I expect this will be more intense…"

Ron's response was overridden by his scream of courage and her whoop of excitement as their tube was launched.

* * *

'Combat drop my butt,' Ron would later complain to Felix, 'they didn't just drop the tube, they fired us out like a bullet.' There was buffeting and shaking as their tube shot down to the beach. At first, looking outside through the transparent walls was interesting, but as the novelty wore off they took advantage of their bodies being pressed together and kissed until some sort of braking cut in and they were no longer weightless. They looked out in time to see the beach and ocean rushing up to meet them. A few seconds later there was a jarring impact and things were dark as the tube had buried itself in the sand on impact. The iris hatch opened and the floor raised with a mechanical whine pushing them and their equipment cases up to ground level.

Managing to remain standing with his KP wrapped around him, he heard, "That was so cool!" When she saw the look on his face, she laughed, "Let's do it again!"

"Maybe we should practice the kissing part first…"

* * *

The combination that Ann had given them unlocked the little beach house. Carrying the equipment cases into the kitchen, they saw that the refrigerator and pantry were stocked and there was a map with places to eat with comments hand-written by Drakken and Shego.

The equipment cases turned out to be filled with some of their clothes and a few gifts. One case contained a "Tex-Mex kit" packed in dry ice to keep the ingredients cool. From the scribbled note, it was from Rufus, Pippa, and Brina. Other packages contained enough candles for a monastery, small bottles of wine and champagne, small articles of wispy clothing that Kim snatched away, plus a basket of fruit, cheese, and pastries.

Putting things away that needed to be put away, the young couple found themselves looking at each other with nothing that had to be done.

"So…" said Ron.

"So…" repeated Kim with a smirk, "Join me for a quick shower before…?" she started toward the bathroom with a sway in her hips, dropping her dress neatly over a chair and leaving a trail of undergarments in her wake.

"Booyah…" Ron murmured, mesmerized for a moment before following her leaving a trail of clothes behind. He had almost caught up when she discarded her last article of clothing. Not willing to take his eyes off the prize (so to speak), his feet got tangled up in his boxers, and he tripped.

* * *

"Ron! If there was any soap down there, I think you'd have found it by now!" the wet redhead squealed while dodging the equally wet blonde who claimed he had to make sure all the soap had been rinsed off by tasting her. All over. The beach house's hot water was provided by a solar heater on the roof and it was limited. Driven out of the shower by cooling water, Ron's "KP soap tasting" was cut short and after drying each other off, he tried to insist on "moisturizing" her skin.

"Nuh uh, Monkey Master, I get to go first," she declared, producing the small bottle that Eir had given them. Dodging out of his attempt to grab her, she spun away and plopped back on the large bed. Taking advantage of the delay caused by his laughter, she poured a small amount of oil into her hand.

Into her dark gray artificial hand. For some reason, she hadn't thought of her artificial hand or scarred body when they were tussling in the shower. Maybe because even wet and naked, they were playing a lot like they might have when they were much younger. Well, Ron trying to taste her all over was new, but in general, it was child-like play. This? This is… Adult? No, not adult, this is the beginning of forever and she was damaged goods. She had been calling him 'her lover' for a while now, but it just got real.

Ron came up short when he saw her looking at her hand with tears forming in her eyes. Dammit, he killed Loki too quickly. Crawling onto the bed, he sat back and took her artificial hand in both of his.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, not sure whether she was sorry to be damaged goods or to have broken the mood.

"I love this hand!" he said praying that Wanda had been correct in the lecture he had listened to.

"What?! But it's not real…"

"It's part of you and I love it," he replied slowly slipping one of her dark gray fingers into his mouth and sucking on it, "Mmm, minty"

"Minty?" she smelled the bottle, puzzled at the apparent non-sequitur. Even though the hand was artificial she felt a small shiver of electricity travel down her arm from the finger he had in his mouth.

"Strange, I would have thought cocoa, maybe milk chocolate…"

Blinking away tears, thinking maybe to him, she wasn't damaged goods, but something that could be treasured. She lay flat on her back as he got on his hands and knees and moved toward her.

She was surprised when he stopped with his face dipping down to kiss her between her breasts. Slowly moving down her body, she realized that he was kissing her scar!

"I see this scar and it reminds me to never forget how precious you are to me, how I almost lost you," he murmured, slowly kissing each inch of the ugly mark that was a reminder to her of the ugliness inside her. "This mark tells me of the hero who nearly died," he cleared his throat and continued, "nearly died defending a land against attackers."

A hot drop of something wet fell on her stomach. Was… Was that a tear? She struggled and managed to sit up, bringing them face to face, almost wailing, "But it was for nothing! That land was full of people who were already dead, some more than once!"

"KP, you did what your heart told you to do given what it knew at the time," he replied, putting his hands on her face and pulling them together for a tender kiss that turned longing after a short time. The kiss burned away the rest of her tears and rekindled a flame in her soul.

'C'mon Possible, pull it together!' she chided herself, 'You've got a guy here that is smoking hot, thinks the world of you, you're both naked, and your hands are oily, so get a grip, take Freya's advice and get laid like tile!'

She reached down with those oily hands and discovered that while she might have killed the mood, her lover's body was quick to forgive and quick to bounce back.

Moaning into her mouth, he gently pushed her onto her back and rose to his hands and knees. When he positioned himself over her, she grabbed a now very hard part of him, stroking his shaft and delighting in the trembling of his muscles gone rigid and the look of pleasure on his face.

"Well, well," she grinned, giving a good impression of a supervillain's evil chuckle, "it appears that I have you in my clutches, Mr. Stoppable. We shall see if a hard man is truly good to find."

Regaining the use of some of his muscles but apparently not the power of speech, he growled and started nibbling on her shoulder and neck, threatening to turn the heroine in control of this sitch into a puddle of compliance ready to be passively pleasured.

Positioning him at her entrance with one hand, she wrapped her legs around him to prevent him from pulling away. With her free hand, she pulled his face up to hers, growling, "Ron, I want this. Do it. Do it now!"

"But, I need to get you ready…" he managed to blurt out.

"Pay attention to the lips that are talking. I'm ready. I want it. Do it, now."

Ron knew that her pleasure was his duty. He remembered the slides on foreplay from his dad's talk, but her hand on his shaft slowly sliding up and down was driving him crazy and his tip was teased by the heat from her entrance. He started slowly, gently pressing his well-oiled shaft into her when she growled,

"DO IT!"

Losing control, he slid into her in one smooth, quick thrust, all the way in. The pleasure of her core's tight grip plus its heat had him teetering on the edge of orgasm. Too soon! Fearing her disappointment, he pulled on the blue to help his control.

She felt him slide into her in one swift, smooth movement. No real pain, no pulling of adhesions, just a pleasurable feeling of him filling her up and stretching her out a little. She was starting to feel herself adjust to him when his body ignited in blue flames and the flames spread creating an aura that covered her body, touching her all over with gentle caresses. This time when he withdrew and thrust again, the sensations from his blue covered flesh penetrating her nearly made her scream with pleasure.

The blue aura surrounded and lifted them off the bed. They were making love, floating weightless from the Mystical Monkey energy that surrounded and permeated their bodies.

That was actually a problem. When Ron thrust into her, what he was actually doing was letting gravity pull his body down into her while the same gravity held Kim on the bed and prevented her from drifting away.

The young lovers had just started to realize the importance of gravity to the missionary position when strong coils wrapped around them, pressing them together. Ron, the 'never be normal' Master of Mystical and Arcane Monkey Power took advantage of its blue aura, realizing that he controlled it. Just as his aura had a mystical monkey's tail that had a physical component in addition to visual, he found that he could use his aura to create mystical sets of hands. This was what his beloved was feeling and he could, in fact, feel himself touching her in many places simultaneously. He soon was able to direct the coils of Kaa the Avatar, wrapped around the floating couple, allowing him to resume thrusting into her.

Kim was becoming lost in her lover's arms and the touch of the blue aura. The mystical touch of the aura gave her a direct connection to his emotions that was as real as the aura's physical touch. As strong as the physical sensations were, they were almost overshadowed by the mystical emotional connection carrying his burning love and adoration for her.

She fought for control, for the power to give back pleasure, but the physical sensations on top of his feelings for her threatened to overwhelm her.

Then the girl who could do anything did what she had only done once before in all her missions. What she had done on that fateful night of the Attack of the Diablos: She surrendered. But this time she surrendered to Ron; gave herself to the touch and taste of his mouth on hers; the touch of his hands in her hair, and at the same time caressing her back. She felt a firm pair of hands squeezing her butt, other hands holding her hands with their fingers interlaced. In the locker room, she had heard other girls comment on how their boyfriends seemed to have extra hands at times, but this was beyond her imagination.

There was a softer touch, more like lips or a tongue on each breast teasing her nipples. Lower down she there was a gentle sucking on the little bud and the lips at the entrance of her core. All this happened as the grip of strong coils gripping her legs and wrapped around her abdomen pressed him into her and pulled him back out with long, deep strokes.

She thought she heard someone screaming as the pressure from the myriad sensations cascaded into waves of physical release. Realizing those screams were from her, she felt his blue aura collapse back into his body, travel through his physical connection to her and explode into her core filling her with enough love, lust, and energy to push her over the edge once again. This time she thought some of the screams might have been from him.

Coming back to full awareness, she lifted her head to see why the bed was tilting.

The bed frame was mostly turned to splinters with one corner having a large enough piece left to make the box springs tilt a little. The rest of the room seemed to have survived, but she was pretty sure that the dresser used to be on the other side of the room. And the vase of flowers that used to be on the dresser was now on the nightstand which somehow moved next to the doorway to the living room.

The redhead smiled to herself as she thought, 'Behold the power of the mystical monkey thing. Ronnie's gotta handle on how to use it a heck of a lot better than I ever thought he would. Who could have guessed that he could reenact " _The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife"_ …'

Trying to stand, she made it on the third attempt. Seeing her mate laying on the mattress panting, she wobbled into the kitchen to get them something to drink. She would never scoff again at a romance writer whose heroine said that they were "wrecked" by a lovemaking session. Afraid she lacked the fine motor skills needed to open the cabinet and get a glass without dropping it, she pulled two unbreakable water bottles out of the fridge and managed to stagger back to the bedroom.

Handing one bottle to Ron, who had made a major effort to rise onto one elbow, he gratefully chugged half the bottle.

"Tell me that wasn't in your Dad's slides from 'The Talk'," Kim laughed.

"No, we've gone past all my training," he laughed in reply, "I don't think it appears in any of Yamanouchi's ancient scrolls either. Otherwise, the statues would never have been lost for so long. I guarantee that Montgomery Fiske would never have wanted to become Monkey Fist if he knew about this."

Feeling bold, she took his empty water bottle and placed both of their bottles on the floor.

"Need a bathroom break?" she asked.

"No, I'm fine. Why?"

"I want to drive this time," she swung her leg over him, sitting on his chest, facing his feet. Using her hands to grasp his flaccid member, she examined it in detail, saying, "Hmm, you seem to be soft and floppy and no good for me anymore. Maybe I can fix that," she adjusted her position so she could bend down and take him into her mouth.

"KP!?"

She raised up still sucking and letting him slide out of her mouth with a 'pop', "Sorry can't talk, my mouth is busy with a resuscitation."

It was interesting to feel him slowly lengthen and harden in her mouth. She soon realized that she hadn't fully thought this out when she felt his mouth brush over her sensitive opening. She clamped down on him and growled, then stopped for a second to laugh delightedly after she heard him say something and felt his head fall back on the mattress. This was HER RON and this was HER TURN.

He was soon too long to fit in her mouth and she needed something to make her hands slipperier. Managing to grab the little bottle of oil, she stroked his length with oily hands while using her lips and tongue on the end. She was a bit disappointed that he wasn't twitching or moaning. Somewhere, somebody surely had training courses for this kind of thing. Something more authoritative than the article in the "Women's" magazine that she and Monique had looked at. She'd have to look. In the meantime, she remembered the saying that 'if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying', so she pulled the blue. Soon her body and particularly her hands and mouth generated tiny blue sparks where her aura touched him.

Ron was about to lose his mind. He had expected her to be on top this time and was a little saddened because he thought that she faced away from him because of her scars. Well, he would have to work on that. His disappointment on not having an amazing view of her front disappeared when she unexpectedly bent over and scooted back putting an amazing butt along with other very sexy parts practically in his face.

And then she started working on him with her mouth. Oh, Lord. Surely only a pig would just lay there and let her do all the work. So, he pulled her just a little bit closer while raising his head so his mouth could reach her damp curls and his tongue could do things that appeared on one of the more advanced slides from The Talk.

He was blindly groping for a pillow to prop up his head when he felt her clamp down on his member and felt a deep growl.

"Uh, KP, I'll just be laying here, let me know if I can do anything for you," he said, dropping his head back on the mattress.

Hearing her delighted laugh, he grinned to himself, 'Well, OK, if it makes KP happy, I'll just man up, lay back, and take it…" He sank into the sensation of her warm lips and tongue along with her hands sliding up and down his shaft and fondling his sack. He knew he couldn't last long and wanted to ask her to go slower, but he had lost the power of speech. Again.

She pulled the blue and her warm, wet, slippery touch became just a little electric, it felt like her hands, lips and mouth were covered with a fine coating of tiny electric sparks and the extra stimulation brought him within a minute to such a massive completion that his convulsing body nearly threw his tormentor off the mattress. He thought he tried to say something, he knew he vocalized sound, but he still had not regained the power of speech.

When he opened his eyes, he realized that he might have zoned out. His red-haired angel was lying beside him, propped up on one elbow and looking at him with a happy grin.

"I think you are behind one. Or maybe I'm behind," he grinned.

"Not a contest or a race, lover, but if it were, I think I am one point ahead," she laughed and rolled into his arms.

They lay wrapped in each other's arms, enjoying the afterglow. Not just the typical afterglow of a couple that has just made love, they were actually still covered in a faint blue glow. They were lying flat this time as no part of the bed frame larger than a toothpick survived and even the box springs seemed to be converted into scraps of cloth and fluff. This time, it appeared that the bedroom furniture was mostly back in its original place. The vase had survived, but petals from the flowers were scattered about the room.

Kim held up her hand putting her thumb and forefinger together and watching a blue arc of electricity form briefly as she pulled them apart.

"Whoa, honey, I think you pumped me full of this stuff." Her musing was interrupted by a gurgling noise. "Was that you or me?" she asked.

"Me, I think," he answered, "we probably should think of getting some food, at least something to drink. How about as soon as I can crawl to the phone, I'll order a pizza and they can slip it through the mail slot?"

"How about we go snack on the fruit, cheese, and pastries in that basket, take a shower, sleep a bit and by that time we can take a nice evening walk on the beach to the little restaurant area and check out the Indian place?

"You have the best ideas, KP!"

"Maybe, but I think we should take turns driving," she said grinning.

"Ready for another ride?"

Kim flopped over on her back, arms and legs spread out, red hair pooling out like a halo around her head. "Take me, you Mystical Monkey Master stud, I'm all yours!"

He struggled to his hands and knees, crawled over, collapsed weakly face down onto her belly, and blew a raspberry.

She gave a squeal of laughter, pushing him off her stomach, "Come on, I hear pastries calling my name. Besides, that Mystical Monkey Penis of yours deserves a rest."

* * *

The newlyweds walked back from The Curry Tree, a little Indian restaurant down the beach from their house, closer to the main hotel at the resort complex. Being pretty much on the other side of the planet from Middleton, their days and nights were pretty screwed up. Mr. Wade "I haven't tried it, but I hear it works" Load was recommending that they just push through without naps to adjust the fastest. Ron was delighted to find out that at least for today, Kim was 'all about the marinating with my husband'. After they dug into the fruit basket and had taken a quick shower, they had napped with the windows open letting in a cool sea breeze.

The Indian restaurant was great. They both liked the spinach-cheese-curry dish, Kim stuck with vegetarian selections, Ron went with the butter chicken. The evening was a little cool, but with the brisk walk, they were fine. Tomorrow, they would hit the shops for appropriate beach wear. They got back to the beach house to find a middle-aged dark-skinned woman dressed in jeans and a white tunic with lace trim waiting on the porch for them.

I'm Dr. Reveuse, she said, handing them a card that said, " **Dr. E Reveuse, trauma counselor and kitchen remodeling** ".

They looked at the card. "Kitchen remodeling?" Kim asked.

"Yes, Ms. Peers," she replied, "you'd be surprised how often kitchen remodeling is either a cause for trauma or part of the treatment. Anyway, we need to talk."

"About?" Ron asked.

"The maintenance folk reported that they replaced a bed that was found shredded and moved furniture back into the right spot," the woman explained, "By the way, they said to thank you for the one-hundred-dollar tip you left them. Such destruction is a sign of the kind of PTSD nightmares that you were reported to have by a…" she checked a notebook before continuing, "Pavlina Hinton and Rhona Reuben who reported that they woke you up while you were having a nightmare where the room was lit by a blue glow and furniture was starting to move. Several others in the sorority who asked that I not record their names told similar tales."

"Ron?" asked Kim, "How often did this happen?"

"The nightmares…" the blond started to answer.

"Not the nightmares, having women in your room at night!"

"KP, Bishop would monitor my sleep and as soon as a nightmare started, he would send someone down to poke me with a pool noodle to wake me up. I never broke any furniture that I know of," Ron spoke quickly.

The redhead threw herself into his arms, "I'm sorry, I should have been there. In the future, I will be there for you. Always."

"Excuse me, but didn't you two just get married?" the doctor sounded puzzled, "Ms. Peers, why weren't you with him today? They had to use a spatula to pry me off of mon Mari for the first two years we were married."

Kim's face nearly matched her hair, "Dr. Reveuse, we weren't asleep, we were, uh, doing other things."

The good doctor's laugh rang out over the beach, a laugh of joy celebrating that this one time at least, she wasn't dealing with the aftermath of a nightmare but _joie de vivre_ instead.

* * *

'I guess deep down in my heart, I should have expected this,' Ron thought glumly as he moved over to start another rep on the chest press machine, 'I guess I was lucky to get the one day of marinating.'

The new couple was in the workout room in the basement of the resort's main hotel. Kim had woken him up at the crack of dawn so happy and excited to start the new day that he didn't have the heart to object. They had been out for a morning run on the beach, executed the basic 24 form of Tai Chi twice as a cooldown, then headed for the hotel pool to swim a couple of laps before lunch. A cool rain had started, so they adjourned to the workout room.

"About ready for some lunch… Ron, what's the matter?"

Ron lowered the weights down and looked over to Kim. She was wearing a one-piece bathing suit that covered her abdomen, running shorts, and canvas sneakers. Her hair was tied back in a loose ponytail. She was stunning and his heart did a little flip at her smile.

"What? No, nothing's the matter…"

"Ronnie, forever's too long a time for us not to be communicating things."

"Well, I was sort of hoping to marinate a little more. I mean, I know that we have to keep in shape and all, but…" the blonde looked down and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why didn't you say something this morning?"

"You were all happy and stuff, I didn't want to rain on your parade…"

"I was just so excited when I woke up, got some coffee, saw the sun starting to rise over the ocean and I thought, 'My first married day is going to be so perfect!'. I should have talked to you about your perfect day."

She lifted up his chin and kissed him. "OK, how about this for a general honeymoon plan, we get up, work out in the morning, have lunch, go back to the house a little after noon and marinate two hours. Then later, we can see a movie, walk on the beach, get dinner and whatever. We'll schedule counseling sessions outside of marinating hours. That work?"

"Hmm, only two hours marinating sounds a little skimpy…"

"Add 'happy-naked-fun-time' as an approved marinating activity and we can make it three hours."

"Booyah! KP, it's a deal."

She pulled him to his feet and they started jogging up the stairs to the lobby. About halfway up, the battery-powered emergency lights in the stairwell went on when the regular lights went out and the constant thrum of the hotel's A/C system was replaced by silence.

"Probably just a breaker tripped," said Kim, slipping a blue and white bangle off her wrist.

"The pizza place has a wood-burning pizza oven, let's eat there," Ron suggested, pull a short piece of wire out from behind his ear, a faint blue glow surrounding his body.

"Sounds good to me," Kim slowly opened the door into the lobby just a crack. Her body also had a faint blue glow and her bangle was replaced with a round shield. Ron handed her a mirror when a pair of three round bursts ripped through the door.

* * *

"So you and Ronnie were about to peek out when the first gunman opened fire. Can you tell me what happened next, Ms. Peers?" Edmee Reveuse was older than she looked. She had been trained in treatment and management of trauma caused by violence and had served two tours with GJ special forces teams on the sharp end of fighting terrorists. Her husband was not happy with her doing that but had still supported the love of her life. In return, she had taken early retirement but was called by a former troop she has helped in his first tour. Will Du had asked her to come back to help Ron and Kim, just counseling, no field work. GJ even sweetened the deal by putting her and her husband up in the rooms of their choice at the resort. She had been getting ready to meet her husband for lunch in the penthouse of the hotel and all hell had broken loose below her. The hotel was seven stories tall and by the time she got to the lobby, it was all over.

Kim looked over at her beloved Mystical Monkey Master. His eyes were returning to normal but still scanned their surroundings. She and Ron sat cross-legged on a beach blanket, their backs to a metal fire pit for warmth as the sun set below the trees in front of them.

"I was stunned for a second by the gunfire, it pierced the door and struck my shield. Ron kicked the door, tearing it off the hinges and striking the man who had fired. There were five men that we could see holding some sort of machine gun pistol. I screamed, 'Drop your weapons now!'. At least I think I did, it could have been Ronnie or maybe we both did. The security cameras should show all this."

"I want to hear what you remember, that's more important than any video," calmly replied the older woman.

Kim took his hand and pressed it to her lips. "The lobby is pretty small, two or three steps and we were in hand to hand combat range. We took anyone still holding a weapon down hard. That was maybe ten, fifteen seconds. Ronnie and I were standing back to back when I saw three men come running in the front door, they were shouting something, but I couldn't hear them because of the monkeys."

She paused waiting for a question, but the counselor just nodded for her to continue.

"The monkeys were screaming at the man on the right. All three carried weapons, but only the one on the right upset them. So I threw the Lotus Blade at him, it hit him in the shoulder. He spun around and fell. I called the blade back and eventually, security showed up and took over."

"What did Ronnie do when these new men showed up?"

"He watched my back," Kim again took his hand and kissed it, a tear running down her cheek, "He trusted me to take care of whatever happened behind him like I trusted him to protect me against anything behind me."

* * *

 **Credits**

Just want to thank anyone who commented and especially CajunBear73, Sentinel103, and Daccu65 who over the course of many, many emails helped me with the characters, plot and such. Plus just bouncing ideas around with these guys has been a total blast.

The Kim Possible, Tarzan, and Jungle Book are the property of Disney and if not Disney, then Edgar Rice Burroughs or Kipling.

The name "Evil Geniuses for a Better Tomorrow" is from Steve Jackson's game Illuminati.

Wanda Wang, Suzie Chin, Antubi Noratu, Judge Q. Hector Snobblestone and his shotgun appear courtesy of Sentinel103.

The idea from "Kim Possible: The Call of Wind Chimes" by CajunBear73 was taken with his kind permission.

Several sections of intense interpersonal dialog were provided by Daccu65. (example, the exchange between Ron and Jessica in the NOPE kitchen)

* * *

"Edmee?" a voice called from the path running in front of their beach house, "Is it safe for me to approach?"

The older woman started and quickly looked at Kim and Ron, both were calm.

"The monkeys say he is OK," said Ron.

"Over here," Edmee called out, standing up.

A short dark-skinned man, wearing sandals, shorts, and shirt, showing off muscled arms, walked over and fiercely embraced their counselor, "Mon Cheri," he whispered fiercely as he kissed her soundly. "You were supposed to be only doing safe missions!"

Edmee turned to the teens, saying, "Mon Amour, let me introduce you to the newlyweds Ronnie Smith and Kimmy Peers, my friends, this is Thibaut Amoureux, my husband and an officer in the Office of Inspector General for Global Justice."

Thibaut looked at the pair, "Pleased to meet you. Wasn't sure that you had time for food, so I brought you this," he said handing them a couple of bags.

"Strange things going on today. It looks like an unknown super villain was trying to kidnap a mad scientist," he gave them a rundown of what security had found out while Kim checked the bags. One had two containers of red beans and rice, one with spice encrusted shrimp, which she handed to Ron. The other seemed to be a vegetarian version. Kim looked up at the man with a raised eyebrow.

Laughing, he replied, "GJ Office of Inspector General is a detective group, mon ami. It is my job to pay attention to details such as your recent preference change to meatless meals and that Middleton residents have never acquired the taste for sweet tea."

Getting serious once the teens started eating, he continued, "It all seems all too cut and dried to me. A new supervillain appears and his first action is a kidnapping in a hotel with you two in the basement. Non. I think it was a setup for Team Possible. If you see them, tell them to be extra careful. We don't want to make even more work for ma belle femme, now do we?"

"Don't go getting these young people all stirred up, you old worry wart," said Edmee, "they're on their honeymoon. Speaking of which, it is getting late…"

The older couple stood and waited for Ron to cover the firepit with sand. They were walking to the beach house when Thibaut related, "I remember when our friends Boudreaux and Marie were having their first fight after their honeymoon, and it was a big one. After a while, Boudreaux said 'When we got married, you promised to love, honor and obey.' Marie replied, 'I know. But I didn't want to start an argument in front of all dem people at the wedding.'"

The teens came to a dead stop with a stunned look on their faces. Edmee put her arms around her husband laughing, "God help me, but I love this man. Goodnight, kids."

The older couple walked down the path to the hotel holding hands.

Kim grabbed his hand, pulling him inside the front door, "C'mon Ronnie, we're behind schedule, we got to get marinating."

* * *

 **Final thoughts**

I finally have Ron and Kim married off, seeing a counselor, and Rufus is at least on the same continent, so I am declaring the team members have stopped looking for themselves and this arc is complete. There are several loose threads that I will work on in much shorter stories. For example, there are

Slim and Ron both have children who are due real soon.

The Lowardian Commander was serious about sponsoring Joss to become one of the Emperor's Own.

Carlynn and Sigbjorn - I figure Ann and the Stoppables get to sort this out.

Thora, Tim, and Jim - This one I blame on Daccu65 although I really like the pairing. (tripling?)

And of course, Kim is not going to put up with marinating on the beach forever. And to be fair, I figure Ron will be soon ready to move on also.

This has nothing to do with this chapter, but I had referenced Dr. Nagoski's work in an earlier chapter. I obviously did it very poorly as that was the chapter where I got the comment that " _You portray Kim as a slut, I will never read your stuff again_."

Anyway, she has a recent TED talk out and I think it is an interesting topic in general. In one case, erotic fiction, a lot of the writing gets it totally wrong. It's the part where the villain/hero says "Your lips say no, but your body says yes…" Her point is that you have to "listen to words, not bodies". To put it crudely, "you have to pay attention to the lips that talk."

Do a web search for "Ted Talks Emily_Nagoski the_truth_about_unwanted_arousal"

* * *

Kim staggered into the kitchen. Good thing Mr. Amoureux didn't give them sweet tea, she wouldn't have stood a chance against her lover if he was jacked up on sugar. The pecan pie plus the half dozen beignets were bad enough. Still, the score was currently even and she had a wicked smile as she planned to go back and get one point ahead.

When she reached halfway across the living room, a blue glowing falchion suddenly appeared in her hand before the plastic water bottles she had been carrying hit the floor. The leather-jacketed man with an eye patch sitting on their couch looked calmly at the softly glowing naked woman who suddenly had a glowing sword in her hand and… and was that murder in her eyes? No problem, dealing with temperamental heroes was his specialty.

"Miss Possible, I apologize for the poor timing, but I really must talk to you and Mr. Stoppable about this initiative we are putting together…"

There was a crash as the man shattered the front door on his way out.

"I think I might be getting too old for this crap," he said looking up to see a pale-skinned dark-haired woman looking down at him.

"C'mon Fury, I know a place by the hotel that makes the best beignets," she said as a man with bluish skin and… leaves? Reached down to give him a hand up.

"Let's give the newlyweds some alone time, maybe in the morning they will be up for a visit," she continued, steering him down the path towards the hotel.

"Maintenance?" the blue-skinned man was on his cellphone, " Can you replace the front door on number 9 and do it very quietly? OK, thanks!"


End file.
